Director’s Message
From the lyrics of an old Rolling Stones song – “Please allow me to introduce myself.” Or
should I say re-introduce myself. It has been a few years since I was active in the Section and I
am sure the newer members don’t have a clue as to who I am.
When I was elected Chair in 1995, my oldest son was just 8 months old. He is now a
sophomore in college. I have another son who is a senior in high school, a daughter who is a
freshman in high school, and another daughter in 7th grade. So you can imagine that my wife,
Mary Kay, and I have been extremely busy over the past two decades. With the kids getting
older and my girls’ softball coaching career over, I now have time for the Section.
I first want to thank my predecessor Alan Fortenberry. He has been extremely helpful in
bringing me up to speed on the duties of the Director and has introduced me to a number of
fellow Directors. I really appreciate his guidance.
I am excited to serve as your Director. And it is an exciting time for AWWA. To paraphrase
AWWA Chief Executive Officer David LaFrance, this is the most exciting time for AWWA since
chlorine was introduced into water treatment. At the annual conference in Boston in June,
AWWA adopted a number of new initiatives.
Special Presidential Panel
In June 2012, a Special Presidential Panel (SP2) was formed to explore the relationship between
the Association and the Sections and to recommend changes in policies, systems and processes
to strengthen the interdependence of these entities and thus create one AWWA. The final
report, AWWA2020: A Path to One AWWA, was presented to the Board at ACE14.
The Panel’s recommendations are organized into five strategic themes: Communications,
Education, Membership, Branding, and Finance. Within each of these themes are tactics which
will serve to advance the goal of creating One AWWA. We will be seeing more from AWWA as
the association implements AWWA2020.
Philanthropic Program
AWWA recognizes that the organization must look ahead to meet tomorrow’s needs. Future
leaders are poised to take on the challenges of decaying infrastructure, source water
protection, reliability of supply and other threats that face the world’s most important
resource. Earlier this year, AWWA adopted a new philanthropic program to expand the
scholarship program as well as advance the development of young professionals, students and
training.
Currently, there are 17 company-sponsored scholarships and two AWWA managed funds. This
initiative will increase the number of scholarships as well as award amounts. The goal of
AWWA is to develop, manage and distribute the “World’s Largest Water Scholarship Fund.” To
support the scholarship funds, AWWA’s website now offers a way to donate to the AWWA
scholarships. Look for the “DONATE” button in the upper righthand corner of the AWWA
homepage.
And to ensure the water profession is widely recognized as a desirable career, AWWA will also
seek to develop and expand partnerships with engineering and other professional societies, and
work with faculty at college and universities to implement programs to double the number of
student chapters.
International Initiative
The vision of the new AWWA Strategic Plan is to develop a better world through better water,
increase the number of members in strategic membership categories, and increase the
relevancy of the Association’s knowledge resources for a global audience. As part of fulfilling
these goals, AWWA is set to open an office in India to service AWWA members in India, create
strong, thriving communities of water professionals, and to provide solutions to properly
manage water. The water needs of India are great. Treated water is available on average only
4.3 hours per day. Unaccounted for water exceeds 30% and only a quarter of the connections
are metered. AWWA is set to take the lead in addressing India’s water problems.
Community Engineering Corps
In February of this year, AWWA and its partners -- the American Society of Civil Engineers and
Engineers Without Borders -- launched the Community Engineering Corps (CE Corps). This
strategic alliance combines our strengths to provide technical expertise to underserved
communities in the US and ensure that their infrastructure meets their community’s needs. CE
Corps is seeking enthusiastic volunteers to use their skills and expertise to work on project
teams, serve on program committees and mentor student project teams.
As you can see, there will be a lot happening with AWWA. As a new Director, one of my tasks will be to
see that the momentum for these programs continues. I am looking forward to my service to you and
our Section over the next three years as we meet these new challenges.
Editor’s Note: Some of the information in this Director’s article may seem outdated, but only because
your Editor inadvertently omitted the Director’s article submitted for the Fall, 2014 issue of the Journal.
My apologies to Clayton for the omission.