Award Winners
Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust
2017 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
The Oklahoma City Utilities Department and Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust strive to meet the city’s growth by securing surface water rights through a groundbreaking water rights agreement. The department develops leadership opportunities for employees across all divisions by encouraging safe workforce practices, accountability and customer service. Its Standard and Poor’s (AAA) and Moody’s (Aaa) bond ratings were reaffirmed in 2015, and strong financial principles place it in the top 5.5 percent of water utilities nationwide. A strategic business plan helps it weigh community needs against available capital and personnel resources with 59 key strategies to continually monitor progress and make improvements.
Onondaga County Water Authority
2017 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Onondaga County Water Authority’s 7G Green Team initiative engages employees in the pursuit of more sustainable practices, building on innovative programs to deliver continuous and measurable results. From sustainable design and construction practices, to collaborative watershed management programs, to cutting-edge unmanned aerial systems used to inspect tanks and monitor surface water quality, the Authority is taking action and tracking key performance indicators to assure it is financially, environmentally and socially sustainable. Particularly meaningful is the historic consolidation with the Metropolitan Water Board to operate, maintain and invest in the entire regional water system under the more independent authority governance structure.
Orange County Utilities
2017 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Orange County Utilities’ strategic plan was updated to meet the challenges of the county’s comprehensive community-based sustainability plan called “Our Home for Life.” Two focus areas were emphasized to meet those challenges – development of sustainable alternative water supplies beyond the current ground water sources and cultivating a sustainable workforce while celebrating many well-deserved retirements. The utility worked collaboratively with five other water systems to develop a 20 MGD alternative water source and developed a Skilled Workforce Achievement Program that was initially a utility-only initiative but evolved into a county-wide effort.
Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority
2017 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Through collaboration and cooperation, the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority of southwest Florida has secured a reliable, affordable water supply for the region and provides the infrastructure for business development and economic growth. The Authority’s extensive expansion program, utilizing alternative water supply in lieu of further groundwater degradation, makes it a model in development of surface water storage by off-stream reservoir and aquifer storage and recovery systems. The Authority’s goal to create a regional interconnected transmission system is a 25-year vision to provide integrated management of the region’s water resources to better protect the environment.
Tampa Bay Water
2017 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Tampa Bay Water, the largest wholesale water utility in the southeastern United States, planned for future regional water supply through an update of its long-term master water plan and implemented an asset management program for its infrastructure and assets. An environmental management system was created to promote compliance with international standards, and an energy management program was implemented to reduce energy costs. The agency refinanced various bond issues, saving $3 million annually, and maintained high bond ratings with all three rating agencies. Its wholesale water rate has held steady for seven consecutive years through innovative cost-saving measures across the agency.
Beaver Water District
2016 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Beaver Water District optimizes operations to produce a quality product by setting a goal of 100 percent compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, maintaining membership in the Partnership for Safe Water and ensuring that capital planning focuses on maintaining high quality water. The utility updated its asset management plan and used the information to establish funding requirements for its Replacement & Refurbishment Fund, which is integral to its 15-year financial plan update and associated recommended wholesale water rate increases. The District promotes customer satisfaction and stakeholder support to achieve community sustainability through various outreach activities.
Central Arizona Project
2016 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
The Central Arizona Project (CAP) plays a critical economic role, delivering more than 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water annually to municipal, industrial, agricultural and Native American water users. CAP works collaboratively with customers, government agencies, water users in the seven basin states and the Republic of Mexico to address regional water supply issues. The agency helped develop cooperative interstate and international agreements designed to conserve Colorado River water and ensure the continued reliability and sustainability of that shared water supply. It employs open, transparent budgeting and rate-setting processes, and a recent assessment found CAP’s asset management program led all surveyed North American utilities.
City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department
2016 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
As a regional utility, operations of the City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department are supported via an enterprise fund model and are fully funded by revenues received from rates and fees for services, as well as fees associated with new development. Over the past three years, the utility made significant progress in strategic plan elements of employee and leadership development, operational optimization, stakeholder outreach, reliability, environmental stewardship, water resource management and financial viability. The strategic plan was updated in 2015 to identify new initiatives, and primary focus now includes customer service, reliability and operational optimization.
City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities
2016 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities’ (DPU) Enterprise Asset Management Plan assists in coordinating planning and management of projects across the city and includes components to maintain inventory and maintenance schedules, track key performance indicators and capture Standard Operating Procedures in a centralized location. DPU has continually been in compliance with all federal and state drinking water requirements and new technologies have been adopted to improve operational efficiencies. The Department engages and educates customers through its website, newsletters, social media posts and advertising. DPU staff present information at community meetings, and a Citizens’ Academy was developed to provide a more in-depth look at utility operations.
Coachella Valley Water District
2016 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) is a multi-faceted California Special District serving more than 318,000 people across a 1,000 square-mile area in portions of Riverside and Imperial counties. Services include drinking water for homes and businesses, irrigation water imported from the Colorado River, recycled water for golf course and landscape-related use, wastewater treatment, regional stormwater protection, groundwater basin management and conservation programs and education for customers. Strategic plan goals include employee workforce development, financial stability, water supply sustainability, exceptional customer service, water quality and environmental leadership, and infrastructure investment and management. Progress is measured using the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) matrix.
DC Water
2016 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
DC Water has tripled its water main replacement program, supported by changing its water rate structure to create a dedicated $40 million annually. To fund large-scale environmental projects, the utility issued an innovative green century bond in 2014. Its $2.6 billion Clean Rivers Project will significantly reduce the combined sewer overflows and a $470 million waste-to-energy project uses innovative technology to turn residuals from the wastewater treatment process into electricity and a beneficial soil amendment. DC Water’s research teams have provided insights into the effects of galvanized plumbing on lead leaching and leading to advancements in thermal hydrolysis.
Fort Wayne City Utilities
2016 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Fort Wayne City Utilities consistently produces quality water for its customers, allowing management to focus on other key initiatives to improve its organization. The utility prioritizes employee and leadership development by encouraging continuous learning through in-house and external training opportunities, for example, growing the number of professional engineers on staff from two to 16. Management has also rewritten all job descriptions to provide for career growth. In 2015, the utility implemented a new customer account management and billing system, which has benefited both customers and the utility. And new chemical feed programs were implemented at its filtration plant, resulting in more consistent and better quality water.