Contra Costa Water District
2015 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Contra Costa Water District keeps local watersheds ecologically healthy, which ensures access to untreated water of high quality to process through its state-of-the-art water treatment plants, optimizing chemical and energy use. Significant investments in water use efficiency projects have helped reduce total water use by over 30 percent. The District is balancing operating expenditures, revenues and debt service, investing in infrastructure assets, controlling operations and maintenance expenditures and increasing water quality and customer service levels.
Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department
2015 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department’s Water Use Efficiency Program improves management of traditional water supplies, encourages development of alternative water supplies and improves water use efficiency. The Department has an aggressive supply-side management water loss reduction program, including improvements in the distribution system, an aggressive leak detection program and advanced meter infrastructure. Its methane sequestration project increases self-generated electricity. An asset management system minimizes the total life cycle cost of its capital assets and a Capital Improvement Plan provides long-term funding to complete improvements. Its employee recognition program has produced more than $38 million in savings.
Prince William County Service Authority
2015 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Sustainability is reflected in Prince William County Service Authority’s strategic planning, business practices and educational outreach efforts. From pricing models and fee structures to customer engagement platforms, the Authority promotes wise use of water while securing its financial future with sound fiscal management. With environmentally friendly technologies and proactive maintenance, the Authority meets stringent regulatory requirements. It protects source waters and public health through meticulous planning, an exemplary workforce and agile responsiveness to its customers.
Riverside Public Utilities Department
2015 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Guided by a utility roadmap to the future, Riverside Public Utilities Department (RPU) has developed projects, such as its Solar Well Project, that help decrease its reliance on non-renewable resources. Other projects, like the North Riverside Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project, protect and improve local groundwater supplies. RPU serves as an integral part of its community through active participation in conservation, outreach and sustainable practices that engender community and stakeholder engagement and socially responsible initiatives.
Santa Rosa Water
2015 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Santa Rosa Water uses an integrated approach to manage the community’s water resources, enhance customer service and raise awareness about water-related issues. It helps customers conserve water, manages an extensive storm drain system and enhances the health of its watershed. The utility conducts in-depth rate setting processes, leads innovative efforts to conserve water and energy, consistently budgets capital improvements and reserve funds, beneficially reuses recycled water, and provides outreach, education and technical assistance to its customers.
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission
2015 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) replaces its water mains at a rate of 55-plus miles per year and mitigates the potential damage of large-diameter pre-stressed, concrete cylinder pipe by using breakthrough acoustic fiber optics technology. The utility obtains 28 percent of its electric power needs from wind power and has solar power projects at two wastewater treatment plants. Its budget includes a ratepayer-supported Customer Assistance Program. A restructured debt program and transformed supply chain management saves WSSC tens of millions of dollars.
Water Works Board of the City of Birmingham
2015 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
The Water Works Board of the City of Birmingham plans for future growth in the region to ensure the system is viable for future generations. To provide for long-term viability, the utility’s capital improvement plan averages $59 million each year, which supports system-wide infrastructure improvement and growth. A Rate Stabilization and Equalization approach helps ensure financial and economic stability with adequate operating, capital, debt service and reserve funds. A watershed protection policy, developed with stakeholder involvement, provides guidelines for development near its key water source.
Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority
2014 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority’s commitment to sustainable practices includes financial conservatism to safeguard customers’ trust and to protect its strong rating in the borrowing community. Its asset management program allows funds for needed upgrades as system demands increase, technology changes or regulatory requirements change. The utility consistently produces high quality drinking water, its staff works to protect source water quality and available quantity, and an extensive reclaimed water system allows reduced use of potable water as an irrigation source. The Authority plays a key role in promoting community economic development and, through local alliances and block grants, leverages funds to ensure critical water services are available to all areas of the community.
City of Boca Raton Utility Services Department
2014 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
The City of Boca Raton Utility Services Department uses a comprehensive water sustainability plan that expands beyond water operations and includes wastewater plus other alternative water sources to sustain its natural water source. Highlights include an ocean outfall program to save and recycle groundwater and a reclaimed water program that recharges the aquifer, prevents salt-water intrusion and provides a cost-effective water source for irrigation. A water conservation public education program contributed to a 25 percent reduction in water use. The utility’s reliability centered maintenance program has been critical to maintaining assets, and a proactive capital improvement program allows for long-term financial viability.
City of Henderson Department of Utility Services
2014 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
The assets of the City of Henderson Department of Utility Services are managed through a comprehensive asset management program that focuses on long-term planned maintenance. The utility is actively planning for increased investment in the maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement of its aging infrastructure. Through aggressive conservation, the city currently uses roughly the same amount of water it did nearly seven years ago despite adding more than 30,000 new residents. The utility also maximizes the use of water resources through an extensive reclaimed system. To meet challenges associated with increased growth and climate change, it works cooperatively with regional agencies and stakeholders to define and implement a coordinated watershed management and protection effort.
Columbus Water Works
2014 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
The Columbus Water Works has coordinated numerous planning cycles (facilities master plan, asset management, strategic planning, IT master planning, energy management planning and financial planning) to provide a comprehensive financial plan. The utility employs active water resource management planning with other stakeholder interests in its basin, tight operational controls, performance measures and a community-wide sewer system to yield a high rate of returned flow, allowing for limited consumptive use. It closely manages its power grid demands, shedding load and saving money by timely ramping up on-site power generation at water resource facilities.
El Paso Water Utilities
2014 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
El Paso Water Utilities shares water resources with three states and two countries, which dictates a proactive water management strategy focused on policy, planning and technology. Sustainability for the utility means protecting public health by producing clean, safe water from renewable resources while meeting applicable regulatory standards. Guided by its strategic plan and with input from key constituents and stakeholders, the water system has aggressively implemented its strategic goals and objectives. It participates in national benchmarking surveys and receives high marks for performance in all areas. Average residential bills are among the lowest in the Southwest, largely due to gains in operational efficiency and a commitment to continuous process improvement principles.