Coachella Valley Water District is one of four public drinking water systems to win a top utility management award from the nation’s only policy-making organization for the largest metropolitan water utilities.
The 2022 Sustainability Water Utility Management Award recognizes CVWD’s focus on achieving a balance of innovative and successful efforts in financial management, environmental stewardship and social responsibility as they relate to sustainability.
It was presented by the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), which advocates for water systems on federal policy issues and fosters programs for sustainable, innovative utility management.
“An AMWA award epitomizes the highest achievement in drinking water utility management and operations,” said AMWA CEO Tom Dobbins. “This year’s winners have demonstrated a commitment to serving their communities by supplying high-quality and safe drinking water while keeping service affordable and supporting the environment through sustainable efforts.”
CVWD Assistant General Manager Robert Cheng received the award Oct. 31 on behalf of the District at AMWA’s 2022 Executive Management Conference in Savannah, Georgia.
“Thanks go to the CVWD Board for setting policy and to the 570 employees for providing a high standard of service to our customers, “said Cheng. “It is an honor to be recognized as a high-performing utility by our industry peers, and we would like to thank AMWA and the other organizations who set up this framework to help utilities serve our customers and communities in the best way possible.”
Judges offered these remarks about CVWD’s application:
- The district demonstrates its commitment to sustainability in water supply, operations, disadvantaged communities and customer programs.
- CVWD has invested in and implemented large water importation projects to replenish extracted groundwater.
- The utility uses recycled water for landscape irrigation.
- CVWD also founded a Disadvantaged Communities infrastructure Task Force, which plans, coordinates and identifies opportunities for water and sewer infrastructure projects in disadvantaged communities; identifies funding opportunities; and discusses potential barriers to help disadvantaged communities receive grant funding for infrastructure projects.
Other Sustainable Water Utility Management Award winners are Fort Wayne City Utilities, Fort Worth Water and San Antonio Water System.
Members of AMWA, based in Washington, D.C., serve more than 160 million people from Alaska to Puerto Rico and nearly every large city in between.
Coachella Valley Water District is a public agency governed by a five-member board of directors. The district provides domestic and irrigation water, agricultural drainage, wastewater treatment and reclamation services, regional stormwater protection, groundwater management and water conservation. It serves approximately 113,000 residential and business customers across 1,000 square miles located primarily in Riverside County, but also in portions of Imperial and San Diego counties