Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) has received the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) 2019 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence. It is one of only two agencies across the U.S. to earn this honor.
The Platinum Award recognizes that CVWD has made remarkable efforts to compete in a highly challenging and constantly changing environment, said Diane VanDe Hei, AMWA chief executive officer.
“This prestigious award clearly reflects the District’s commitment to responsible management of the water supply, to providing reliable services and delivering high-quality drinking water,” said Jim Barrett, CVWD general manager. “It showcases the hard work and innovative thinking of our employees.”
Panels of peer judges evaluate the award applicants. Criteria for the honor are based on the nationally recognized Ten Attributes of Effective Utility Management. Those attributes include: product quality, employee and leadership development, financial viability, operational resiliency, water resource adequacy, customer satisfaction, operational optimization, infrastructure stability, community sustainability and stakeholder understanding and support.
Judges listed outstanding features of CVWD’s application:
- The utility’s infrastructure reliability exceeds industry standards through an aggressive preventative maintenance program.
- Financial viability and security remain exceptional through prudent rate setting, consideration of water affordability, and maintenance of capital assets.
- Water resource sustainability is carefully managed through a diverse water supply portfolio and water supply projects.
The awards were presented on Oct. 21 in ceremonies at AMWA’s 2019 Executive Management Conference in Newport, R.I.
AMWA is an organization of the largest publicly owned water utilities in the U.S. It is the voice of metropolitan water systems on federal water policy issues, and its programs foster sustainable, innovative utility management.
The 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 storm water protection, groundwater management and water conservation. It serves approximately 108,000 residential and business customers across 1,000 square miles, located primarily in Riverside County, but also in portions of Imperial and San Diego counties.
