Exemplary Source Water Protection Award

Award title: Exemplary Source Water Protection Award.

Purpose of the award: To recognize drinking water systems who have developed and are implementing exemplary source water protection programs.

The award: The AWWA Exemplary Source Water Protection Program Award plaque.

Frequency of the award: Yearly, up to three awards, with the intent to distribute to organizations representing different water system size classifications based on the population served.

Presentation of the award: The award will be presented at the AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition.

Submission Window: Opens November 1 prior to the award year and remains open until January 15 of the award year.

Deadline for Submission: January 15 of a given award year

Section level awards: Some AWWA sections may also offer an Exemplary Source Water Protection Award at the local level. Contact your local section for more information.

AWWA award committee membership: The Award Committee will be administered by the AWWA Source Water Protection Committee and will be comprised of members of the Source Water Protection Committee as well as other Committees of the AWWA Water Resource Sustainability Division as appropriate. Employees of or consultants to any of the organizations participating in the subject Source Water Protection Program or the nominating organization may not serve on the Award Committee. The Award Committee will make nominations to be approved by the trustees of the AWWA Water Resource Sustainability Division.

Interested in learning more about Source Water Protection? Additional resources and information avaialable on Source Water Proection page.

The applicant will be requested to confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria when starting their online application for their application to be successfully submitted for consideration.

Eligibility:

• Applicant is a Drinking Water System
• The applicant is in compliance with Applicable Regulatory Requirements
• Drinking water supply source(s) is associated with a water system or authority that is regulated by a federal/state/province/tribe government agency
• The applicant verifies that they have based their application on the latest ANSI/AWWA G300 Standard 
• The applicant has a Directly Responsible Individual* (DRI) for implementation of the Source Water Protection Program (DRI information will be required for the application)
• The source of drinking water for the system (groundwater, surface water or both)

*DRI – the person, directly employed by a Drinking Water System, that is responsible for the Drinking Water System’s Source Water Protection program implementation (I.e., not a consultant)

Selection criteria for the award: The award will be based largely on the criteria set forth in the AWWA Standard for Source Water Protection (ANSI/AWWA G300-14/G300-22).

The Standard states that “Source water protection is a highly site-specific process that reflects the inherent diversity of natural waters and the areas from which they are derived. Consequently, successful source water protection programs may vary widely in their details; but it is a premise of this standard that successful programs share several fundamental elements. These elements form the basis of the source water protection standard. Within this generalized framework, individual utilities may establish and maintain source water protection programs that account for their unique local conditions, incorporate the interests of local stakeholders, and reflect sustainable long-term commitments to the process by all parties.”

Specifically, the source water protection program should include each of the following six (6) components outlined below and described in more detail in the Standard: (1) a source water protection program vision; (2) source water characterization; (3) source water protection goals; (4) source water protection action plan; (5) implementation of the action plan; and (6) periodic evaluation and revision of the entire program. Although each of the six primary elements may differ greatly in their complexity or effort, they are each vital to the success of the program. Accordingly, basic success in each area should be demonstrated in order for a utility to obtain recognition in the area of source water protection.

In addition to how well a source water protection program satisfies each of the six (6) program components outlined above for the AWWA Standard, the award will also be based on the following three criteria: (1) the effectiveness of the program; (2) the innovativeness of the program approach; and (3) the difficulties overcome by the organization in satisfying the eligibility criteria.

In determining the award winner(s), consideration may be given to the resources available to the organization for the development and implementation of a source water protection program when judging the programs of organizations of difference sizes (within a specific size category).

Drinking Water System Size Categories:

• ❏ A: Fewer than 10,000 people served
• ❏ B: 10,001 – 100,000 people served
• ❏ C: More than 100,001 people served

Please refer to the online application process below for the award criteria you will be asked to address.

All content that will be evaluated must be provided within the word count allotted. Any links to websites will not be reviewed as part of the award evaluation scoring. AWWA cannot accept any additional supporting materials beyond the information provided in the application form. However, you are encouraged to describe your supporting materials (e.g., source water assessment report, source water protection plan, source water protection implementation reports, and source water monitoring results) within the application itself.

The award score is based on 100 points. Only applicants with a total score of 80 points or above can be considered for the award.

AWWA’s Source Water Protection committee has updated the submission process where applicants will submit their responses via Microsoft Forms, an online platform used by AWWA. The Microsoft form will need to be completed all at once as AWWA does not have the ability to save incomplete applications to access later. Therefore, we highly recommend that applicants prepare responses ahead of time so that answers are ready to copy and paste into the form. Please note that answers will be word limited as noted in each application question.

Applicants will be requested to confirm eligibility criteria have been met at the start of the online application. The applicant will be asked to provide the following information about their water system in addition to completing the questions in the online application:

• Source Water (e.g., Groundwater, Surface Water, Both)
• Name of Drinking Water System
• State(s)/Province(s)/Tribe(s) in which the system operates
• Drinking Water System Source Water Protection Program Directly Responsible Person* contact information
• Is the award applicant an AWWA member?
• Population Served by the water system
• For wholesaler, provide total population served (including all consecutive systems)
• Average daily water production for the water system (mgd)

*The person at the Drinking Water System who is responsible for the implementation of the Source Water Protection program.

The online application consists of the following questions, each with a word limit, and weighting found below.

Resubmissions: Should the applicant not be successful in their award submission, the applicant is welcome and encouraged to reapply for the award. Prior to any resubmissions, the applicant is encouraged to request feedback for incorporation so updates can be incorporated into the resubmitted application. Resubmissions will be required to have updated content identified and/or highlighted. 

Please direct any questions to awards@awwa.org.

APPLICATION WILL OPEN UP IN NOVEMBER 2024