Attracting, cultivating, and retaining a high-quality workforce is critical for water utilities generally and safe drinking water specifically. Although scholars and practitioners alike have long called for increased attention to human capital, there has been very little systematic research on the relationship between workforce quality and water utility performance. This chapter quantifies the significance of workforce quality for drinking water with a novel analysis of water utility operators and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) compliance. I find a strong relationship between the quality of a utility’s workers and SDWA compliance, even after accounting for a host of variables that influence utility performance. Individual highly qualified operators emerge as especially significant predictors of SDWA compliance. These findings affirm and highlight the importance of human capital for the future of safe drinking water in the United States. The chapter concludes by discussing avenues for improving workforce quality in the next 50 years.