Watermark > Fall 2003 > AWWA Director's Report
AWWA Director's Report
Bob Jones, AWWA Director
I assumed the position of AWWA Director
at the June Anaheim Confer-Director at the June Anaheim Conference,
replacing Dennis Mitchell.
I’d like to take this opportunity to once again acknowledge
the great job Dennis did
as AWWA Director for the last
three years.
The Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE) appeared to have been highly successful. We still haven’t seen a firm count on the number of attendees, but, but if visits to the tradeshow are used as an indicator, there were over 20,000. Of particular note was a session dedicated to Canadian research and issues and also the highly popular Canadian Water Forum. The Forum is an excellent example of how the Canadian Sections work together to produce a first class event. It was decided at the Canadia Affairs Committee meeting to again sponsor a technical session for ACE 2004 in Orlando. If anyone is interested in presenting at the session please let me know and I will make sure the request gets to the appropriate person.
The Board has completed the healing process after the resolution of the Efficient Utilities issue. In the words of outgoing AWWA President Lynn Stovall, the Association has weathered the storm and now is leaner and meaner for the experience.
The Board held a special session on June 14 to consider accreditation in order to help decide what direction to take on this important issue. The discussion on the fourteenth was interesting, but things got really interesting on June 15 when, after considerable discussion, the Board passed a motion that instructs the Standards Council to continue with the development of drinking water accreditation standards. Of particular interest to Canadians is the fact that part of the motion is for the Standards Council to work with the Ontario Water Works Association (OWWA), a Section of AWWA, and other potential utilities, to pilot the utilization of the accreditation drinking water standards and to monitor results. In another motion passed on June 15, all AWWA quality programs, ie. Qualserve, the Partnership for Safe Water and the accreditation program will be placed under one umbrella. The strategic planning process for AWWA was also discussed at the June meeting.
The AWWA strategic planning process consists of four stages: information collection, analysis and interpretation, direction setting and strategy and plan development. The process has passed the information gathering stage and has entered the analysis and interpretation stage. The goal is to complete the second stage by the end of this year, and the Board will be updated on further progress at the winter Board meeting in January. If you would like more information on the AWWA strategic planning process, please contact me through the BCWWA office.
Finally, I recently attended the new Directors orientation at AWWA headquarters in Denver. I was really impressed with the facility and the friendliness of AWWA staff and I also got to know the new Directors from other Sections better. I learned that AWWA truly is a well-tuned operation and, in my opinion, the session was very worthwhile.
Is your utility eligible for the AWAA Water Utilities Longstanding Award?
Has your utility been a member of the American Water Works for 50, 75, or 100 years. If so, please note that AWWA will be recognizing utilities in 2004 that have been members for this time span. AWWA records indicate that the City of Nelson and the Greater Nanaimo Water District qualify for the 50-year award. If your utlity has also been an AWWA member for at least 50 years please e-mail Del Haylock at dhaylock@bcwwa.org and provide relevant details
