Wise Water Words - Volume 51, Issue 1 (Spring 2014)
Committee Reports
Archives and History
Audit
Awards
From Dennis Watts: The awards committee is asking you to take some time out of your day and consider nominating persons that are eligible for awards, whether it be state or national. The awards committee feels that there are a lot of very deserving individuals in the water industry that should be recognized. Please visit the awards committee page. This site has the new awards on it and also the WISA. Please give this some thought; a list of the awards is on the Nebraska Section AWWA website and also the national website. Thank you for your time in looking recognizing deserving water industry personnel.Budget
Cross Connections
Education
If you need new ways to earn credit hours, the AWWA offers "eLearning" courses through the national website.Fall Conference
Fuller Award
Manufacturers/Associates Council
Membership
From Marc Rosso: In January I attended the membership summit in Denver and learned exciting new things about AWWA and how to drive membership. Over 30 membership chairs and AWWA staff were in attendance including the membership chair from Mexico who saw snow for the first time. On Wednesday the session was designed for 1st time attendees and we learned of benefits of being an AWWA member. Thursday sessions included a keynote by address Sheri Jacobs, President of Avenue M Group, who discussed that we need to focus on what problems our members have, what programs we have that solve those problems and sell those benefits. The Art of Membership, How to Attract, Retain and Cement Member Loyalty was her discussion. It was very insightful and we will be talking about how to implement some of her strategies for the NEAWWA. Three breakout sessions included Building an Action-Oriented Committee, Communicating the Value of Your Utility Membership and Recruiting New Members. On both Wednesday and Thursday evening activities included networking events so we learned more about what our fellow Sections were doing in their parts of the country. Friday's sessions included the upcoming roll out of the new membership information which will be in graphical form and anticipated in the 2nd quarter of the year. This data will be very valuable as we attempt to grow our membership. Which, by the way, Nebraska is currently #1 in both retention (94.1%) and growth by percentage (5.7%) of all 43 Sections. We completed our 2014 membership plan and submitted to AWWA well ahead of the March 31 deadline. We are entered in the membership challenge which could pay $200 to the section if we meet goals.We currently have 327 active members, 21 late and 348 total members. Our 2014 year end section goal is 339 so we are ok so far. Several expired members are utilities that are active and long-time members so we will be checking with them to see if they received their renewals.
Since the last Board meeting we have organized discussed how to approach the engineers that stamp water plans for HHS approval in addition to Fall Conference attendees that are not AWWA members. Upcoming activities include updating the SOP with activities that seem to work well and addition of new ideas for late 2014.
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The Membership Committee is pleased to welcome our newest member, Cathy Meyer who works for the Nebraska City Utilities. We would also like to encourage our existing members to renew your membership so you can continue to receive the benefits of membership that include expanding your knowledge, improving your network and empowering your career. Membership in AWWA provides you with information like OpFlow and The Journal where you can learn about new technologies and what others are doing in the industry. It also provides a network of professionals that can help with questions you may have or solving water system problems. So, if you want to learn about operational, maintenance, troubleshooting or new technologies in your field, grow your professional knowledge, gain access to current events, or just have some fun while meeting new people, membership in AWWA is a continued step in the right direction!
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The Nebraska Section is pleased to have the following new members since 11/1/13. Please welcome them if you see them!
- Warren Humphey, Olsson Associates
- Devin Schultze, Student
- Jade Lammars, Burgess Well Company, Minden
- Mike Parde, City of Fremont
- Cathy Meyer, Nebraska City Utilities
Nominations
Public Information
From Mary Poe: Drinking Water Week is May 4th through 10th. Mayors' proclamations, press releases, and Facebook posts are planned during the week. Speaking of Facebook, the Nebraska Section Facebook page has 152 fans. Watch for informational posts during Drinking Water Week. Anyone can access the Facebook page: You do not need an account and do not need to log in to view the page.Publications
From Brian Gongol: Thank you to all of the contributors who submitted material for the spring edition of Wise Water Words. We're moving to what is called a "digital-first" strategy. As contributions come in, we'll publish them online at awwaneb.org/words (more or less immediately upon receipt). Then, per our traditional publications schedule, we will "close the books" three times per year and produce our print publication with whatever has arrived since the prior print publication. This serves both types of reader -- if you want to get the news as it's available, you'll find it online. If you just want a summary a few times per year, we'll have that available, too. This "digital-first" approach means we're always publishing the digital edition, and following up with a printed publication to summarize what's already online. We'll also let you know via our mass-mailing list when each edition is complete so you can view it immediately online. In the long term, we hope to get most of our readers comfortable with the digital edition, which could allow us to dramatically cut publishing and mailing costs in the future, saving the Nebraska Section considerable money.If you did not pick up your printed copy of the section directory at the Fall Conference in Kearney, please send me an e-mail (brian@gongol.net) and we'll send you a copy.
Research and Student Activities
Safety
From Doug Woodbeck: As all NSAWWA members should be aware, every year the Section solicits award nominations from the membership for the myriad of awards that are available to members and non-members alike. One of these often overlooked awards is the Safety award.Having worked with many public water systems and other water industry related companies, I know that safety is a major consideration for most, especially the safety of employees and the public. Safeguarding equipment and material, while very important, takes a back seat in preference of protecting human life and well-being.
With this said, the Nebraska Section is requesting that all members systems and individuals take the time to submit an application for your system/business to receive a safety award this year. Safety Award nomination forms must be submitted no later than July 25, 2014 to Milo Rust from the City of Chadron (the Section's Safety Committee Chair).
Milo Rust
c/o City of Chadron
PO Box 390
Chadron, NE 69337
Safety Award nomination forms may be downloaded from the Section website, or they may be obtained by e-mail request from Milo Rust (publicworks@chadron-nebraska.com), Tony Martinez (tony.martinez@nebraska.gov), or Doug Woodbeck (doug.woodbeck@nebraska.gov). The Section would like to receive as many Safety award nomination forms as possible, because we know there are many deserving public water systems and other member companies out there with very good safety programs and safety records.
We look forward to seeing you, and presenting an award to your organization at the Fall Conference in Kearney in November.
Scholarship
Small Systems
Water for People
From Christian New: Don't miss golfing at Nebraska's only 5-star golf course! Register now for the 2014 Water for People Golf Scramble to be held on May 9, 2014. 1:30 SHOTGUN START, dinner follows.Location: Woodland Hills Golf Course, 6000 Woodland Hills Drive, Eagle, Nebraska
We need hole prizes and raffle prizes; consider sponsoring a hole or entertaining your clients with a wonderful springtime day and dinner! Either mail or email the order form to Christian_new@praxair.com.
The registration form is found at the bottom of the page at http://nebraska.tap.waterforpeople.org/event/water-for-people-golf-scramble. Call Patrick Harlan at 402-917-1688 with questions.
Water Utility Council
From Jim Shields: On April 1st and 2nd, Jim Shields (Omaha) and Jerry Obrist (Lincoln) represented the Nebraska Section at the AWWA "Water Matters!" Fly-In in Washington, DC. Milo Rust (Chadron) was also scheduled to participate but bad weather in his area kept him grounded.The purpose of the Fly-In is to advance AWWA's legislative issues on Capitol Hill with the constituents of Congress carrying the messages. The Fly-In also boosts name recognition among members of Congress and helps further establish our water professionals as authoritative sources of knowledge and expertise on drinking water issues with members of Congress and their staffs.
The Fly-In is a two-day event. We begin the first morning with briefings and discussions of current drinking water issues before Congress and issues that we want to bring before Congress. The afternoon and the next morning are set aside for AWWA members to visit their members of Congress. All 5 Nebraska congressional offices were visited and we also attended the Nebraska Breakfast. This breakfast is held every Wednesday morning as a way for visitors to the capital to meet their representatives in a more informal setting.
Current issue papers from the AWWA:
- AWWA issue paper: WIFIA
- AWWA issue paper: financing
- AWWA issue paper: chemical spills
- AWWA issue paper: cybersecurity
