Quench, March/April 2016

The Art of Sustainability: Water Resource Adequacy and Community Engagement Also Inside: Innovating Texas' Rural Water Opportunities Congratulations to the Winners of the 2016 TRWA Awards of Excellence

March / April 2016 www.trwa.org

TRWA Today

TRWA Board of Directors

Officers

Leadership Team

Lara Zent Executive Director and General Counsel

Larry Bell Technical Assistance Director

Pat Allen President

Guadalupe (Dist. 9)

Celia Eaves Environmental Services Director

Brian Macmanus Vice President

Cameron (Dist. 6)

Janice Gibbs, CPA Finance Director Allison Kaminsky Communications Director Angela Russell, CMP Member Services Director

Erin Selvera

Chris Boyd Secretary

Denton (Dist. 3)

Michael Vollmar

Barry Miller Treasurer

Gonzales (Dist. 5) Clay Hodges Immediate Past President Hunt (Dist. 7)

District Directors

Finley Barnett Taylor (Dist. 1)

Bruce Alexander Medina (Dist. 2)

Delores Goode Lampasas (Dist. 4) Charles Beseda Hill (Dist. 8)

Legal and Legislative Services Director Professional Development and Training Director

Office Staff

Melody Bennett Project Support Specialist Pam Cantrell Accounting Support Specialist Adrienne Emmerich Course Development Specialist

Angela Harris Member Services Coordinator

Jeramie Judd Training Support Specialist

Deborah McMullan Assistant Projects Manager, Environmental Services

Pauline Word Legal Assistant

Field Staff

Kent Watson Brazos (Dist. 10)

Thomas Acker, Jr. Instructor

Kevin Spence Franklin (Dist. 11)

Michael Beadnell Instructor

Ross Brookbank FMT Specialist

Vickie Armstrong Kaufman (Dist. 12)

Robert Nettles Walker (Dist. 13)

Rhonda Shaw Rusk (Dist. 14)

Established in 1969, the Texas Rural Water Association (TRWA) is a statewide nonprofit trade association with an active membership consisting of more than 750 nonprofit water supply corporations, special utility districts, municipal utility districts, small-town water departments, investor-owned utilities and individual members. In addition, more than 200 water industry suppliers participate in TRWA activities as associate members. TRWA members provide water and wastewater service to 2.5 million customers throughout Texas.

TRWA is dedicated to helping directors, managers and operators provide efficient service and clean, safe drinking water to their customers.

Through on-site technical assistance, education and information exchange, TRWA helps its members better meet their needs as well as the needs of their customers.

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Alex Eaves Wastewater Technician Paul King Circuit Rider Len Klandrud Instructor Steven Mindt FMT Specialist George Patterson Instructor

Charles Perkins Circuit Rider

Refugio Rodriguez FMT Specialist

Anne Ruthstrom Source Water Protection Specialist

James Smith Circuit Rider

William White Circuit Rider

Contact the Editor Editorial and advertising inquiries may be directed to the Editor, Allison Kaminsky, at (512) 472-8591 or editor@trwa.org.

Find TRWA on Facebook “Like” our Page and join the conversation at: www.facebook.com/TexasRuralWaterAssn

Follow TRWA on Twitter!

Find us at @TexasRuralWater for all water industry news and @TRWALegislative for legislative updates relevant to you!

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In Every Issue: Letter from the President Letter from the Executive Director

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Ask Larry

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Keep it Legal

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Advertiser Index

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Plan Ahead

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Answers to your technical questions Answers to your legal questions

TRWA’s Calendar of Events

Features:

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The Art of Sustainability: 10 Principles of Sustainable Utility Management

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Congratulations to the Winners of the TRWA Awards of Excellence

By John Padalino, Kemp Smith LLP This is the final article in a five-part series focused on sustainable utility management, centering on the ninth and tenth principles.

Meet the winners of TRWA's Office Manager of the Year, Operator of the Year and Manager of the Year!

Erin Selvera, TRWA's New Legal and 15 Meet Legislative Services Director Learn more about the newest addition to our management team!

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Innovating Texas' Rural Water Opportunities

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RuralWaterCon 2016 Highlights

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Putting Your PAC Dollars to Work in 2016

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TRWA Supports Rural Water Interests at NRWA Rally in D.C.

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By Richard Seline, Executive Director, AccelerateH20 AccelerateH20, a Texas water technology initiative, attended national gatherings, which focused on drought resilience, aquifer depletion and long-term impact on rural communities.

By Allison Kaminsky, Texas Rural Water Association This year's annual convention was a huge success!

Read for more on what made RuralWaterCon 2016 one of our best yet.

By Allison Kaminsky, Texas Rural Water Association As we gear up for the 2017 legislative session, the TRWA PAC Trustees approved a total of $22,500 in PAC donations to a list of state and federal officials.

Several of TRWA's Board, staff and members attended the National Rural Water Rally in D.C.

TRWA Briefs

Results of the 2016 TRWA Board Elections; Register Today for our Office Professionals Conference; Interested in Being Part of the TRWA Team; City of Idalou Wins Kindle Fire Drawing; Participate in the 2016 Salary and Rate Survey

On the Cover: Sunset in the "Heart" of the Bayou Photo Credit: Tammy K. Allen, Rural Texas Water Category Winner, PH 2OSTREAM 2016 Quench — March/April 2016 3

President’s Message

“As we grow, we grow together; the issues we face, we will face together.”

Greetings Friends and Neighbors, Our Association elections are behind us, and I am looking forward to my term as President of the Texas Rural Water Association. It is truly an honor and privilege to have the opportunity to serve as the TRWA President. I am looking forward to working with Lara, the TRWA staff and my fellow Board members.

I have been involved with water and waterlines since my pre-teen years. I grew up working with my father and grandfather in a machine shop at an early age—a family business that did a variety of different things. For a period of time they manufactured trenching equipment and I occasionally was allowed to demonstrate the machines to potential customers, and then graduated to being a hired hand or operator of a trencher to people needing trenches dug for their pipelines lines. My education and career varied and changed many times after that until I landed a job at Green Valley Special Utility District.

In December 1996, I began working at Green Valley SUD. I was hired to be the operations manager, but first had to learn more about the water industry. Fortunately for me, I had the opportunity to work with a group of men and women that were knowledgeable and capable of operating and maintaining a complex water system that was serving just fewer than 4,000 water connections and nine water distribution plants.

Great fun, lots of late hours, weekends, holidays, anniversaries, backto-back on-call…yes, lots of fun, but glad to have done it and proud of the work we did. I became general manger in January 2007, and I am still having fun, still grateful for what we have and still have a great group of employees that maintain service to over 11,000 connections. I give thanks every day to the Green Valley SUD employees.

I am sure many of you could tell a similar story about the hard work, great people, high expectations and compassion for what we all do on a daily basis.

The water business has definitely changed and will continue that trend. As we grow, we will grow together; the issues we face, we will face together. Our concerns with new legislation will continue while trying to manage the effects of legislation already on the books. It’s a challenge, and we could not be successful without a strong Association.

Your individual contributions to the PAC and your continued support are very important to the Association as they help us send our message to the legislators. Your attendance to our conferences to hear updates and learn about new changes along with the opportunity to exchange ideas with your peers only furthers your own education. I hope to continue to have your support and compassion that you have shown for years.

It’s a great day to be a Texan!

God Bless Us All,

Pat Allen President Texas Rural Water Association 4

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Letter from the Executive Director

I am still elated over the success of RuralWaterCon this year! Thanks to all who attended, our outstanding presenters and exhibitors, and to the TRWA staff who did a great job making sure everything ran smoothly. We also had our most successful PAC fundraising campaign in many years, which will greatly support our legislative efforts.

In March, we added two new individuals to our team. I hope some of you had a chance to meet our new Legal & Legislative Services Director, Erin Selvera, at Convention. She is introduced in this issue of Quench both in a stand-alone article and through her first “Keep It Legal” column. She has been working hard on our legislative issues, filing comments on pending rule packages at the Public Utility Commission, assisting our members with legal questions and performing legal work for TRWA. Adrienne Emmerich also joined our team in March in a newly created position—Course Development Specialist. Adrienne previously served the Texas Rural Water Foundation for a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer.

She is diligently updating course manuals and updating and developing new online courses for our Training Department. She grew up in Massachusetts and attended Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where she studied earth science and archaeology.

In November, Ann Ruthstrom joined our team as our new Source Water Protection Specialist. Anne previously worked at TCEQ. She has a bachelor of science in Geography: Water Resources from Texas State University. She has been doing a great job for us on this program, and some of you may have already had the chance to work with her!

As new team members join TRWA, I have been thinking about the future of the Association and the future of rural water systems in Texas. I see the need for us to collectively work on attracting new talent to pursue careers in our industry, to serve on boards of water systems and to serve in leadership roles for the Association. Has your system done succession planning to identify who your future general manager will be? What have you done to recruit new board members in your community? As you will read on page 9 of this issue, East Cedar Creek FWSD has been proactive in their succession planning efforts.

In the July/ August 2015 issue of Quench, we published an article entitled, “The Case for Higher Pay— Why Rural Water Systems Should Consider Increasing Salaries and Benefits.” The article pointed out that an estimated 3050 percent of the water and wastewater utility workforce will be retiring in the next decade and argued that to attract and retain smart ambitious young people to our industry, we will need to be more competitive with salaries and benefits packages. Through the Foundation, we have begun to develop tools that water and wastewater utilities may already use to promote careers in our industry in high schools, technical schools and community colleges locally. Resources are available on the Foundation’s website at: www.texasrwf.org. I feel passionately about this issue and, with your help and ideas, I look forward to leading the effort in this important endeavor.

Another one of my goals for this next year is to form a young leadership group within our membership. I envision that we would train this group to organize grassroots legislative activities and community events in each TRWA region; but also that amongst this group, we will generate interest in serving as future leaders of the Association. If you are interested in being a part of this group or would like to nominate someone from your team, please contact me!

Lara Zent Executive Director and General Counsel Texas Rural Water Association

“I see the need for us to collectively work on attracting new talent to pursue careers in our industry, to serve on boards of water systems and to serve in leadership roles.”

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The Art of Sustainability: 10 Principles of Sustainable Utility Management

Principle 9: Water Resource Adequacy, and Principle 10: Community Engagement

By John C. Padalino, Partner, Kemp Smith LLP This article is the last in a five-part series focused on sustainable utility management.

I

n the previous issue we focused on operational resiliency and community and economic development. We learned about crisis management and how important it is to be prepared to deal with the media and communications during an emergency. We also learned that a key to sustainability is involvement in your community’s economic development planning. This is the final article in the series based on 10 principles of system sustainability listed in the Rural and Small Systems Guidebook to Sustainable Utility Management.

The Guidebook was published in conjunction with the EPA while I was at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) serving as the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service. This article examines how water resource adequacy and community play a role in sustainability.

Water Resource Adequacy Like so many water systems, you might be thinking about whether you have enough access to water resources for current and future growth. Just last year, if you drove by Lake Travis, you would have seen what economic and population growth coupled with drought can do to a water resource.

The lake measured only 37 percent of capacity before drought breaking rains last May. Before the rains, you could measure the lake in the number of feet of limestone you could see above the water line. Limestone cliffs became the new shoreline that used to be under water.

It is said, “the planet cannot be water short, but humans and societies in portions of the planet can be.” Remember, humans are dependent on upon water at certain concentrations and at certain purity.

For years, scientists have been forecasting water shortages especially in the Southwest from Texas to California. Nevertheless, in 2014, funding provided through USDA’s Emergency Community Water Assistance Grant (ECWAG) program helped 25 rural California communities deal with the impacts 6

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of the ongoing drought in California. Instead of long-term planning for water shortages, Californians saw themselves scrambling to meet their water and wastewater treatment needs, constructing pipelines to connect water-starved residents to additional resources because their wells had run dry, others having only intermittent access.

Here in Texas, cities from El Paso to Wichita Falls are taking advantage of direct reuse. To beat the drought, Wichita City officials started blending 5 million gallons a day of treated wastewater into their municipal water system. The Wichita Falls project was one of the biggest direct reuse programs in the country in 2014. While some residents in the city of about 105,000 were concerned about drinking water from a sewage treatment plant, city officials and business leaders say it was the only way to adapt to an unprecedented dry spell. The lakes that supplied the city dropped below 25 percent of their capacity and spurred the city of Wichita Falls to implement the water reuse project.

It goes without saying: If you do not have access to an adequate water supply, it is going to be very difficult for you to effectively finance your infrastructure project.

Community Engagement Even if you have done everything right—you have a good product, happy customers, trained employees, an optimized system, financial viability, infrastructure stability, operational resiliency, as well as an understanding of economic development needs and access to water resources— when it comes time to seek financing for the next project, if the community does not know what is going on at the water or wastewater system, they may revolt.

It won’t take you long searching the news to find articles of heavily attended city council or water board meetings when it comes time to discuss a rate hike. I recently came across an article about a town in Missouri that held a listening session so that residents could talk about the increase in rates that

came as a result of receiving financing from USDA for a new wastewater treatment system. The mayor blamed USDA for the high rates. He explained how he held off any rate hikes and moving forward on the projects because he knew it would hurt the town. Does anyone see anything wrong with that? In the four years that the mayor fought rate hikes and infrastructure improvements, the costs went up and the residents became complacent about the rate structure and need for improvements.

One way to approach the challenge could have been from sustainably managing the system from the get go, engaging the community and clearly explaining the needs and requirements.

Four years is a lot of time to explain why it’s in the community’s best interest. Just think about the next industry that might want to move to the town and be told that they do not have the capacity in the lagoon to treat the sewage. After smelling the lagoon, who knows if the industry will even stop or maybe they will just keep going, much like drivers in other parts of rural America when the water smells horrible.

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*** John Padalino is a partner in the Kemp Smith Law firm. He has held licenses as a water and wastewater operator, represented water systems as general counsel, and served as Administrator of the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service. With his combined experience, John advises and represents water and wastewater systems in many areas of water law, including legislation, regulatory matters, system operations and development, real estate, finance and litigation. The National Rural Water Association recognized John as a Friend of Rural Water. He is a staunch advocate for water and wastewater systems and the rural communities they serve.

John Padalino can be reached by email at John.

Padalino@kempsmith.com or by phone 512-3205466.

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Congratulations to the Winners of the 2016 TRWA Awards of Excellence

T

he Texas Rural Water Association Awards of Excellence program is designed to recognize outstanding managers, operators and secretary/office managers of rural water systems across Texas. This is TRWA’s way of honoring excellence, dedication and achievement in those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

The TRWA Awards Committee received several outstanding nominations this year, making the decision a hard one to make. Read more about our outstanding 2016 winners below.

Secretary/Office Manager of the Year— Suzanne Silva, Crystal Clear SUD Suzanne “Suzie” Silva has been with Crystal Clear Special Utility District for over 30 years, starting in 1982 as part-time office help. By 1985, she was working there full time, taking all payments for water bills, memberships, impact fees and line extensions. Her duties began to expand, and she learned how to do payroll and bookkeeping using ledger books and would occasionally attend board meetings to type minutes on her electric typewriter.

The system got their first computer in 1990, which nobody knew how to use. Suzie took classes to learn the billing program and word processing software, and led the charge on entering their 2800 customers into their new billing program’s database.

Suzie has since introduced Crystal Clear to three successive generations of billing software.

Suzie also oversaw the implementation of the Crystal Clear’s first Automatic Meter Reading (AMR)

system. Working with operations, she has used the AMR innovation to reduce meter reading from two men taking two-and-a-half weeks down to twoand-a-half days. She is also the system’s records management officer, managing the scanning of all documents to the server and off-site storage facility.

She now oversees three Customer Service Representatives and an Asset/Inventory/Work Order Representative that she has trained and mentored.

She and her staff serve 5000 accounts spread over 165 square miles of service territory. They coordinate customer service using a GPS tracking system, allowing them to dispatch eight field service technicians and operators effectively and efficiently.

More recently, Suzie has gotten involved in the operations side of Crystal Clear, becoming more and more active in meter reading and other operations issues. Because of her training and earning her “D” water license, she has brought in over $150,000 in additional fees by bringing customers into compliance with the system’s tariff and TCEQ regulations. She is now working on obtaining her “C” groundwater license.

“I want to make it where women see that they can make it to the top,” said Suzie.

Suzie was nominated for this TRWA Award of Excellence by Mike Taylor, general manager of Crystal Clear SUD. “Suzie’s goal is to reach as high as she can, for as long as she can,” said Mike. “She is currently the office manager, but she hopes to be a general manager someday.”

Operator of the Year—James Blodgett, East Cedar Creek FWSD James Blodgett has been with East Cedar Creek Fresh Water Supply District for over 11 years.

He first started with the system as a wastewater operator trainee, and has since advanced to operations manager, recognizing his profession as a career. Though he still functions as the key operator at times, his main role is to oversee the water and wastewater treatment staff and the field supervisors’ performance.

James now holds a Texas “B” wastewater license and a “B” surface water license. He stays up-to-

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Manager of the Year—Judy Woodrum, Fruitvale WSC Judy Woodrum has been with Fruitvale Water Supply Corporation for 38 years and has been instrumental in the system’s growth since the beginning. She started as a clerk in 1977, writing bills by hand and collecting payments, and became the sole employee maintaining the day-to-day office operations in 1979. The system now has over 1100 customers, four plants, 13 wells and 130 miles of water line.

date on rules and regulations and attends regular seminars to stay abreast of upcoming changes that could impact the system. He then brings that knowledge back to his staff, ensuring they, too, understand their role in meeting compliance and why the new rule applies.

In 2012, after months of development and deliberation, the system’s personnel committee and board of directors appointed James as the candidate to succeed the general manager in their district succession plan. He is now being exposed to managerial activities and trained by the general manager to fulfill this role in the future. He oversees over 75 percent of the system’s staffing, and it is his responsibility to organize and direct them to best meet the system’s goals and objectives.

He has created spreadsheets to collect history data for analyzing process control and cost analysis for water and wastewater treatment. He is currently being trained to understand executive spreadsheets, including those for asset management, budgeting and financial review.

“When it comes to attitude, Judy has the best.

She is always pleasant, outgoing and positive. It is addictive. She has a smile on her face at all times.

This goes a long way in the office, dealing with customers and in board meetings. She always treats people with respect, and greets our customers individually, usually by name. The community looks to her as a leader,” said Jackie King, Vice President of Fruitvale WSC, who nominated Judy for this award.

Her accuracy and attention to detail is very keen.

She is always on top of the best decisions financially for the system and makes recommendations to the board that are very seldom questioned because the trust is there that she has researched the options thoroughly. Her attention to detail also shows in her knowledge of the state agency rules and regulations, as well as policies and procedures.

She is constantly making sure she is up to date on the newest rulings and/or policies, and if she knows something is being discussed and may become a ruling that affects the system, she always gives her board a heads up.

Continued on page 10

He is a key player in the system’s short and long-range planning, acquiring feedback from his subordinates, assessing their recommendations and then providing input to top-management. He has made recommendations to cut costs, including creating a centralized site to store water treatment chemicals to cut transportation costs.

James was nominated for this award by Bill Goheen, general manager of East Cedar Creek FWSD. “James is constantly thinking of ways to improve and enhance treatment and long-term solutions,” said Bill.

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Continued from page 9

She also ensures the most efficient use of time and labor in the field.

“One of the best things she implemented in the last few years has been the radio read meters throughout the system. This saved manpower as we went from taking three days to read meters manually to taking less than 8 hours,” said Jackie.

“This also saved the system money, as the office now had a way to prove to customers that the amount of water they were billed for is accurate with the capability to pull logs on customer’s meters, instead of making adjustments due to uncertainty.”

Judy earned her CSI license in 2004 and her “D” license in 2005, advancing eventually to obtain her “C” license in 2012. When it came time for the Operations Manager to retire, her leadership was without question, so she was named General Manager in 2014.

Judy’s leadership shines brightest through the employees of Fruitvale Water Supply. Judy treats all of the employees as equals, and her ability to listen and guide encourages the employees to constantly go above and beyond for her and the system. They have the utmost respect for her. They know she is fair and consistent in her decisions, and consistently

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puts the employees’ needs above her own. This fosters an atmosphere of family and teamwork. All four employees function as a team, yet love each other like family. If one is out, the others pick up the ball and run with it, so that the office or outside work continues in a seamless manner. There is not an employee who wouldn’t go to the ends of the earth for her.

In talking with the employees in preparation for the award nomination, one of them said, “We would not be the employees we are today if it weren’t for Judy. She makes us want to be better people.”

“I guess Judy has devoted much of her life to Fruitvale Water Supply. She arrives early, stays late and rarely takes her allotted vacation time. I truly feel that she deserves recognition for all of her hard work and dedication. Again, it might be cliché, but they just don’t come much better than Judy Woodrum,” said Jackie. *** Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit a nomination for a 2016 award. The Awards of Excellence nomination cycle runs between August and December. Check back in the July/ August issue of this magazine, or visit www.trwa. org, for details on how to nominate one of your peers for a 2017 award!

Ask Larry

Q:

A Q&A column with TRWA Technical Assistance Director Larry Bell

How long after a customer pays for a meter do we have to set it? I have read the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) Chapter 290 rules, but I must have overlooked it somewhere.

A: There is a state regulation on the length of time a system has to install a meter, but it is not in TCEQ’s Chapter 290 rules. The regulation now is in the Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) rules at 16 Texas Administrative Code Section 24.85 as follows: (a) Except as provided for in subsection (e) of this section, every retail public utility shall serve each qualified service applicant within its certificated area as soon as is practical after receiving a completed application. A qualified service applicant is an applicant who has met all of the retail public utility’s requirements contained in its tariff, schedule of rates, or service policies and regulations for extension of service including the delivery to the retail public utility of any service connection inspection certificates required by law…

(4) A request for service that requires a tap but does not require line extensions, construction or new facilities shall be filled within five working days after a completed service application has been accepted.

(5) If construction is required to fill the order and if it cannot be completed within 30 days, the retail public utility shall provide a written explanation of the construction required and an expected date of service. (b) Except for good cause shown, the failure to provide service within 30 days of an expected date or within 180 days of the date a completed application was accepted from a qualified applicant may constitute refusal to serve, and may result in the assessment of administrative penalties or revocation of the certificate of convenience and necessity or the granting of a certificate to another retail public utility to serve the applicant.

As you can see, the PUC rules require a meter to be installed within five working days from the time

the paperwork is completed and returned to the system’s office and all fees have been paid.

If there was some line extension or other construction work to be done before the meter can be installed, then the work must be complete within 30 days of the date provided to the customer as the expected date of service, but no later than 180 days after the expected date.

I’ve included all the sections of the rule applicable to your question so you will know what the PUC expects for compliance. A retail public utility includes all types of public water systems, so this rule applies to water supply corporations, districts and municipal utilities.

Section E of the TRWA Sample Tariff regarding activation of standard service states the tap for a standard service request shall be completed within five (5) working days whenever practicable, but not later than 10 working days. At one time we anticipated TCEQ would change this time frame.

However, until the rule is changed, systems should adhere to the five-day requirement in PUC rules.

Q: Our system has 250 meters; do we have to have a full-time Class C water operator?

A: The TCEQ rules require all systems to be operated at all times under the direct supervision of a water works operator who holds an applicable, valid license issued by the executive director, but these rules do not state whether that operator must be full- or part-time. One exception is for transient non-community public water systems.

Under 30 Texas Administrative Code § 290.46(e)(1), these systems are not required to have a licensed operator.

The class of license a system is required to have depends on the size and type of water in use at the system. For a system serving 250 connections, a class “C” license is required if the system uses chlorine dioxide or treats groundwater under the direct influence of surface water. If your system is a purchased water system or treats groundwater and does not treat surface water or groundwater that is under the direct influence of surface water, then a Continued on page 12 Quench — March/April 2016 11

Continued from page 11

“D” license is required. Systems serving no more than 1,000 connections that treat surface water or utilize complete surface water treatment must use at least one operator who holds a Class “B” or higher surface water license. Other requirements, such as completion of Surface Water Production I and Surface Water Production II courses, may apply.

The full list of requirements is provided in TCEQ rule 30 TAC § 290.46 (e).

Systems can employ an operator or contract with an operator or operations company as long as the operator understands TCEQ will hold him/her responsible for proper system operations.

Your system should have some type of documentation to show the TCEQ inspector who your licensed operator is during the TCEQ comprehensive compliance investigation. Systems and each operator are supposed to notify TCEQ in writing with the name of the licensed operator on an annual basis and within 10 days of an operator being hired or dismissed. This allows TCEQ to know which licensed operator is working for which system during the year.

Q: We have a customer who wants to buy water in bulk. Are we liable for contamination that may occur when they put it in their containers?

A: There is a potential liability. To help avoid the potential for contamination, TCEQ requires bulk water customers who will be selling potable drinking water to folks who do not have a connection to the water system to comply with the TCEQ rules for water haulers. Under TCEQ rule 290.44, when drinking water is distributed by tank truck or trailer, the water shall be obtained from an approved source and the equipment used to haul the water must be approved by the TCEQ executive director

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and meet the construction specifications listed in the rule.

There are no quality regulations if the bulk water provider is just dumping this water into someone else’s personal containers except to maintain an air gap or install a backflow assembly to eliminate cross-connections. However, the difficulty some bulk water sales folks face is that buyers will tell the bulk water provider the water is for livestock or something else when in fact they’re using that water for drinking and cooking at their homes or camp houses.

If they (the bulk water sales folks or the purchasers) don’t clean those containers and use proper disinfection, they could get sick, and there is the potential they will sue the bulk water customer, the water system and anyone associated with the system.

Another point is the USDA standard service application and agreement prohibits a customer from making a business out of the sale of water.

That section reads: “All water shall be metered by meters to be furnished and installed by the Corporation. The meter and/or wastewater connection is for the sole use of the Member or customer and is to provide service to only one (1) dwelling or one (1) business. Extension of pipe(s) to transfer utility service from one property to another, to share, resell, or submeter water to any other persons, dwellings, businesses, or property, etc., is prohibited.”

As you can see above, customers/members are not to resell or even give water away to others. It is for the strict use by each customer/member legally entitled to receive water service.

If you have a technical question you would like answered, please email Larry.Bell@trwa.org.

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Meet TRWA’s New Legal and Legislative Services Director, Erin Selvera

O

n March 7, 2016, TRWA welcomed our new Legal and Legislative Services Director, Erin Selvera. Erin will author our “Keep It Legal” column and other articles in Quench, work with TRWA members to resolve legal and regulatory issues, lobby on behalf of TRWA member utilities and represent members’ concerns on rulemakings at the Public Utility Commission, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Texas Water Development Board. Erin also will present on legal topics at our conferences and conventions. Be sure to look for her at our Training and Technical Conference coming up in July.

Erin came to us from TCEQ where she served as special assistant to the Air Permits Division director for four years and staff attorney in the Environmental Law Division for seven. As a staff attorney, she represented the TCEQ executive director in contested cases regarding water utility rates, certificates of convenience and necessity and water right applications, and drafted new agency rules and revisions for the Water Utilities Division. Prior to TCEQ, Erin served as an assistant attorney general in the Child Support Division and as a project design assistant for Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. She received a Bachelor of Architecture in 1996 from the University of Houston and her Juris Doctor from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 2004.

“Growing up in a semi-rural area on the outskirts of Houston had its share of benefits and learning opportunities. There was a lot of room to run and play on our four acres, but it came with a lengthy list of chores, from feeding the chickens, rabbits, pig and pony to sharing the enormous lawn mowing duties with my five siblings,” Erin said.

“I also got to know firsthand how important a continuous supply of clean water is to my family and those we served. During the power loss we experienced due to hurricane Alicia and through the hot Texas summers, I watched my parents work tirelessly to keep the wells for our home and mobile home park up and running, taking water samples and making adjustments to the necessary chemicals. I’ve tried to carry forward their dedication

TRWA’s new Legal and Legislative Director Erin with her husband, Donovan, and son, Wyatt.

through a healthy work ethic and commitment to serve the people of Texas.

“I’ve dedicated the last 11 years to water utilities, water rights and air regulatory issues for TCEQ. In my role as the new legal and legislative services director, I hope to continue that service to you. I feel so fortunate to be part of the TRWA team and look forward to helping you with your questions and representing you at the Capitol during the next legislative session.”

Erin lives outside of Austin in Cedar Park with her husband Donovan and son Wyatt. She loves to build furniture and renovate homes in her spare time.

You may contact Erin at (512) 472-8591 or by email at Erin.Selvera@trwa.org or legal@trwa.org.

Quench — March/April 2016 15

Keep It Legal Answers to Members’ Questions by Erin Selvera, TRWA Legal and Legislative Services Director

Q:

I previously asked a question about board members e-mailing information regarding the water supply corporation, and I understand this could lead to violations of the Open Meetings Act. Now, some of my board members have discovered Facebook, and I have received “friend requests” from a number of them. What advice should I give them as I fear they might be naïve in creating an electronic quorum?

A: You asked for advice about Facebook friend requests from board members with the concern that they may be creating an electronic quorum.

As you may know, a Water Supply Corporation (WSC) is defined as a governmental body subject to the Open Meetings Act, and it applies when the WSC engages in a “regular, special or called meeting.” This includes informal meetings where the quorum of the governmental body engages in a discussion or deliberation concerning an issue within the jurisdiction of the governmental body or any public business. A deliberation includes an exchange of spoken words, but it also may include an exchange of written materials or electronic mail.

with newer technologies such as microblogs (e.g., Twitter), social media websites (e.g., Facebook), text messaging and instant messaging, raise new issues for consideration by the Attorney General, the courts and the Legislature. Neither the courts nor the Attorney General have determined the applicability of the [Act] to these new technologies, however, under the current interpretations of the Act, a quorum would exist if a majority of the governmental body discusses public business on a Facebook wall. The Facebook wall could be closed to the public, or open; however, absent prior notice of the “meeting” the [members of the governmental body] could be in violation of the [Act]. A similar situation could arise with Twitter where members can have public or private accounts.”

“...there is the potential to create a quorum and thus an open meeting through social media communications...”

Although there is no specific prohibition in the Open Meetings Act regarding social media friendships or communication, the 2016 Attorney General’s Open Meetings Handbook discusses the issue of new technologies and social media, including Facebook and Twitter. Below is the relevant excerpt from the Handbook: “In response to its charge to consider how advances in technology and increased use of social media affect the communications of governmental bodies, the Senate Committee on State Affairs prepared an Interim Report to the Eighty-second Legislature. The Interim Report acknowledged the challenge that new technologies present in complying with the Act. It said: ‘The walking quorum concept combined 16

Quench — March/April 2016

In summary, because there is the potential to create a quorum and thus an open meeting through social media communications, I would advise that you and the board members exercise caution with regard to the use of social media as a means of personal communication. Out of an abundance of caution, you may want to refrain from entertaining these friend requests to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

The same word of caution applies to water districts and cities, which are governmental entities and also subject to the Open Meetings Act. Q: Is a wholesale, sales tax-exempt WSC considered a political subdivision under the public works prevailing wage rates requirements?

A: Based on the information you’ve provided, a wholesale WSC may be certified as a regional service provider by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and thus would not be subject to sales tax. Although this type of entity may be considered a political subdivision for some purposes, for example the Open Meetings Act, it is not considered a political subdivision subject to the public works prevailing wage requirements.

Q: If a candidate for a special utility district board has been charged with a Class A Misdemeanor (assault causing bodily injury/ family violence), are they eligible to run for a board position? If a candidate is in the running and they don’t own property, nor have established water service in the SUD CCN, are they eligible? Both candidates are registered voters in the district.

A: For Special Utility Districts, Chapter 65 of the Water Code states that, to be qualified to serve as a director, a person must be “at least 18 years old; a resident citizen of this state; and either own land subject to taxation in the district, be a user of the facilities of the district, or be a qualified voter of the district.” Since the two candidates are registered voters in the district, they would be eligible to run for the board under this chapter.

The Water Code does not address criminal offenses in eligibility for directors. However, the Election Code Section 141.001 does address this issue, and it prohibits a candidate who has been “finally convicted of a felony from which the person has not been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities.” A misdemeanor is not a disqualification under the law, nor would being charged with a crime since the code requires conviction as a prerequisite. This is the same answer for municipalities and water supply corporations.

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For WSCs, Chapter 67 of the Water Code requires a board candidate to be at least 18 years old and a member of the WSC. So, if these candidates are not members, they would not be eligible.

For cities, the residency requirement for councilmen or aldermen also differs. For Type A general law cities, Local Government Code Section 22.032 requires a person to be a registered voter and a resident of the city, including a resident of the council ward or district on election day. To be mayor, a person also must have resided in the city for at least 12 months before election day.

For Type B general law cities, Local Government Code Section 23.024 requires a candidate for mayor or alderman to reside in the city for at least six months prior to election day.

Eligibility may vary for home rule cities so check your charter.

If you have a legal question you would like answered, please email legal@trwa.org.

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Innovating Texas’ Rural Water Opportunities

By Richard Seline, Executive Director, AccelerateH20

A

ccelerateH2O, the Texas water technology initiative, was featured in national gatherings during last month’s World Water Day events in Washington, D.C. Executive Director Richard Seline was one of 150 invitees to the White House Water Summit on March 22nd, where federal agency, corporate and foundation leadership presented new initiatives and projects to address ‘water security’ challenges. A significant focus of the Summit was on drought resilience, aquifer depletion and long-term impact of water on rural communities and regions in the western half of the U.S. Our partnership with the Texas Rural Water Association was highlighted during four days of roundtables, presentations, conferences and smallgroup discussions. The value of TRWA’s role in agriculture, energy, manufacturing and a host of other economic and workforce development issues sparked interest across several federal agencies, technology interests and foundations concerned that rural America cannot be excluded from the future of water in the Nation’s strategies and initiatives.

The following was presented as AccelerateH2O’s commitment to water innovation during the Summit: “….AccelerateH2O ….will launch three of a planned seven regional hubs in Texas for demonstrating innovative approaches for water reuse, brackish desalination and aquifer recharge in rural communities, optimization of water systems and smart irrigation. AccelerateH2O will work through these hubs to engage 500 youth and student “water innovators” in open-source projects, expedite commercialization of 35 earlystage breakthrough water technologies, and launch four competitions focused on addressing critical water challenges. These efforts will support AccelerateH2O’s goals of increasing the recovery of “lost” water by 15–22 percent annually, reducing overall water use by 7.5–10 percent annually in drought-prone areas, and increasing sources of “new” water by 28–30 percent annually by 2020 across all of Texas…”

In meetings before and after the Summit, Seline discussed the Innovative Water Demonstration Hubs as “…platforms for integrating Texas’ best minds, expertise, capital and technology with national 18

Quench — March/April 2016

AccelerateH20 Executive Director Richard Seline briefs the Israeli Venture Forum.

and global partners to solve Grand Challenges around brine and energy management from desalination, reuse of produced water from oil and gas production, storm and flood mitigation with predictive geospatial data and new instrumentation, smart irrigation and rural water management innovations, and another eight significant technical and market opportunities…”

“Texas is challenged by some of the same scenarios as 90 percent of the rest of the world— converting sea and brackish water to beneficial use, demand from growth in three of the ten largest cities in the country, communities facing on and off drought conditions, advanced manufacturing and production modernization leading to increased interest in zero-discharge and reuse, extensive storm and flood damage, addressing arsenic and other quality issues for rural communities, and reducing loss from older pipes and antiquated infrastructure. We in Texas seek to solve our biggest challenges while also generating breakthroughs and innovations to meet the needs of communities and markets around the world,” he said.

Another subject of intense focus during the Summit was the importance of data, sensors, analytics and instrumentation that can predict, advise and support decision-making about water quality, quantity and innovative practices for drought-, storm- and economically-challenged communities—especially rural locations that may not have access to all the information and data tools. Texas is a leader in the development of unique water data collection, geospatial imaging and

robust analysis that supports planning and resource decision-making. However, few Texans realize how strongly we are positioned on a national and global scale to solve soil moisture, flood mitigation and other related effects of not enough or too much water.

After the White House Summit, Seline met with 20 technology CEOs and representatives to discuss leveraging the State’s business environment for entrepreneurs, innovators, inventors and investors.

“Through our partnership with the state’s leading water associations such as TRWA, a network of incubators and accelerators across the State, coupled with our InvestH2O forum of private investment sources and the aggregation of over 4600 public utility procurement decision-makers, we welcome early and growth stage products and services to our $9+ billion marketplace. And to strengthen why companies and investments want to be in Texas: we have over 150 companies with global reach on which to ride-along for exporting to new markets around the world,” said Seline During a forum of Israeli startup and investment managers, Seline explained “…unlike most countries in the world, we do not have a so-called minister of water; we have over 4600 ministers of water and that can be very intimidating and a long lead time for early stage as well as large global companies. AccelerateH2O, its partners, the State’s elected officials, economic development and civic leaders are finding ways to welcome and engage with companies and investors to scale-up their market development activities and improve upon their technology capabilities. Remember that Israel had no natural form of fresh water and an urgent demand from a growing economy, including agriculture, and therefore had to innovate itself in practice and application. Currently Israel, Singapore and other countries reclaim and reuse more than 50 percent of their water resources, while Texas remains at less than 10 percent. We are at an important crossroads to adopt and adapt the world’s best thinking and technologies.”

Texas’ role as a global water innovation hub was introduced to senior leadership of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Energy, State, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corp of Engineers, along with representatives from GE, Coca Cola, Xylem, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and 30 other global and national Fortune 500 companies.

“It was evident that engaging with TRWA’s membership to help cities, counties and regions in the state where not enough or too much water has created uncertainty and economic challenges was a common national and global concern for both the public and private sector expertise. We strongly believe that efforts underway in the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas could become best practices for mitigating uncertainty caused by on and off again drought and flooding, as well as change the fortunes of ranches, farms, manufacturing, and small businesses,” observed Seline.

One idea that AccelerateH2O has begun to circulate at the regional, state and national levels— “West Texas: The New American Oasis”— was well received. The concept of linking various sources, forms, end-users, technologies and innovative practices into a “Water Cycle of Prosperity” could prevent future water wars, ownership battles and surface versus groundwater legal or legislative action. Simply, the abundance of aquifer, brackish, reclaimed industrial and agriculture, and other water sources— viewed as an integrated system— could spark an economic resurgence in counties that are currently pitted against each other from a perspective of limited access to water. Working with the Texas Rural Water Association, agriculture and ranch interests, light manufacturing and small businesses, chambers of commerce and economic development organizations, AccelerateH2O’s executive and advisory committees are encouraged about the state becoming a global water innovation hub.

About Accelerate H2O AccelerateH2O was formed to identify the most efficient and effective pathway for technology development and deployment across Texas’ residential, industrial, agricultural and utility endusers. With more than 18 university research centers, 4600 water agencies, 5000+ medium and large corporate campuses, and thousands of farms and ranches, Texas represents an undiscovered $9 billion water technology marketplace. We connect the market of ideas, resources and assets by tackling barriers and limitations to innovating water in Texas. More information on AccelerateH2O can be found at http://www.AccelerateH2O.org

Quench — March/April 2016 19

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RuralWaterCon 2016 Highlights

By Allison Kaminsky, Communications Director, Texas Rural Water Association

T

his year marked the 47th Annual Convention for TRWA, and over 360 attendees and 270 exhibitors traveled to Fort Worth for the occasion. This year’s RuralWaterCon had the same great benefits our members have come to expect, including an educational program filled with sessions led by industry professionals, a sold-out exhibit hall and networking events, but we also tried out some new ideas this year, which were well received.

In addition to including another round of breakout sessions, totaling 18 in all, we added a special track of educational sessions for board members. We also initiated a new sporting clays tournament for our political action committee (PAC), honored a few good men, added new features and events, and raised money for our PAC. Read on for highlights of this year’s convention!

Sporting Clays Tournament Benefiting the Rural Water PAC Before RuralWaterCon officially started, we headed out to the Alpine Shooting Range on Tuesday afternoon for a friendly sporting clays competition.

Replacing the usual golf tournament held at this time, the Sporting Clays Tournament raised over $2,500 for the Texas Rural Water PAC and provided for hours of fun for the 40 individuals who participated. Medals were awarded to the highest scoring team and also for first, second and third place for highest scoring individuals. Congratulations to all medal winners, and thank you to AIA Insurance Agency for hosting this event!

Gold-level PAC Reception with Senator Charles Perry

TRWA Board Members and Executive Director Lara Zent pose with Senator Perry during the PAC reception.

All those who contributed at a gold level (more than $300) to the Texas Rural Water PAC in 2016 were invited to attend a special welcome reception with RuralWaterCon’s keynote speaker, Senator Charles Perry, who chairs the Agriculture, Water and Rural Affairs Committee in the Texas Senate. Over 20 individuals attended this event, which included a special address by the senator, one-on-one conversations with him, photo opportunities and an open bar. The PAC reception was held concurrently with the general Welcome Reception on Tuesday evening.

Opening General Session RuralWaterCon officially kicked off Wednesday morning at our Opening General Session, which featured our keynote speaker Senator Perry and special guest Charles Hilton, president of the National Rural Water Association.

TRWA Past-President Clay Hodges, serving as President at the time, also made a special presentation honoring several former TRWA Board Members attending the event. Scott Adams, Tommy Carswell, Eddy Daniel and Roy Perkins were invited to the stage and given plaques to commemorate their service to the Association.

Congratulations to the highest scoring team at this year’s Sporting Clays Tournament!

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TRWA Awards and Scholarship Committee Chairman Charles Beseda then honored the winners

Silent and Live PAC Auctions

Left to Right: Tommy Carswell, Roy Perkins, Scott Adams, Eddy Daniel and Clay Hodges.

of this year’s Awards of Excellence. Read more about the award winners on page 8 of this issue! Beseda also gave special recognition to the Texas Rural Water Foundation’s student and operator scholarship recipients, who you can read more about in the May/ June issue of Quench.

Throughout the event, attendees could bid on unique items at our silent auction booth in the exhibit hall. We had a great showing of handicrafts, Texas goods, jewelry and more donated by TRWA members, board and staff. Premium items were on display and auctioned off during evening festivities Wednesday night. Live auction items included vacation packages, artwork and sculptures, and a rifle.

The auctions combined raised $6600 in funds for our PAC for a total of approximately $18,000 raised so far this year. Thank you to all who donated items and to those who participated in the PAC auctions during the event.

The Opening General Session led directly into the Annual Business Meeting, where reports were given by the TRWA President, Executive Director, Treasurer and Vice-president. Candidates up for election for the TRWA Board were announced, and then the session adjourned for the morning.

Sold-out Exhibit Hall with Vendor Showcase Luncheon

Attendees check their bids during the PAC silent auction.

President’s Banquet Wednesday evening following the pre-banquet reception, guests were invited to attend the annual President’s Banquet. The banquet kicked off with the live PAC auction, hosted by guest auctioneer Jo Ball from Bolivar Peninsula SUD. After the auction, guests were able to mingle amongst themselves and enjoy a stage show during dinner.

Continued on page 24

These members are enjoying their lunch in the exhibit hall courtesy of our RuralWaterCon vendors!

New this year, the exhibitors of the 98 booths in RuralWaterCon’s sold-out exhibit hall hosted a complimentary lunch on Wednesday. After the Annual Business Meeting and before afternoon sessions commenced, all attendees were invited to walk the exhibit hall, enjoy lunch and get up close and personal with our vendors. Prizes were also awarded during this time at our PAC silent auction booth, where several attendees walked away with $100!

Connie Glenn, guest of Walston Springs Water, learns to play the bass during the annual President's Banquet.

Quench — March/April 2016 23

Continued from page 23

The entertainment for the evening was a variety show presented by the 3 Fools on 3 Stools! The Fools combined musical talent and comedic chops for an interactive experience that ran guests through new and familiar tunes and got the audience involved with games and prizes. A few showed us their skills on the dance floor, and one lucky individual was even invited to the stage to show off her newly-learned bass playing skills for a musical number.

Chuck Wagon Round-up

It was all business Thursday morning, as delegates convened at caucuses to discuss district business and hold elections for TRWA Board Members. Afterward, attendees headed straight to their chosen concurrent workshops to round out the morning.

Attendees were then invited to take a load off and enjoy the Chuck Wagon Round-up, a luncheon sponsored by CoBank. The program began with newly-elected TRWA President Pat Allen announcing the results of the morning's elections (see page 28 for complete election results), followed by a short presentation and video given by CoBank about financing solutions for water systems. After some downtime to mingle and enjoy lunch and a slide show of pictures taken throughout the event, TRWA Executive Director and General Counsel Lara Zent took the stage to introduce "Trailblazers of Rural Water," a TRWA-original production featuring a handful of forward-thinking individuals who were nominated by their peers in the industry. These trailblazers are only a few of the talented and innovative individuals we have in our midst. Read more about them in the May/June issue of this magazine.

WE CARE ABOUT YOUR TOWN, BECAUSE IT’S OUR TOWN TOO.

Thank You After the Chuck Wagon Round-up, two more rounds of concurrent sessions brought RuralWaterCon 2016 to a close. We would like to extend our gratitude to our members and to everyone who made this event such a success!

Special thanks goes to our Gold Sponsors, AIA Insurance Agency and TraC-n-Trol, and to the sponsors of our special events, breaks, charging station and meals.

Find us on Facebook to see more pictures from RuralWaterCon 2016 and future events! We hope to see you at one of our summer conferences in June and July. Check our website for details!

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Quench — March/April 2016

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Putting Your PAC Dollars to Work in 2016

By Allison Kaminsky, Communications Director, Texas Rural Water Association

T

RWA’s legislative team is already hard at work lobbying, drafting legislation and making the political connections necessary to ensure that rural water interests are represented fairly and effectively in the 85th Legislature.

With the 2017 legislative session fast approaching, the funds contributed and raised for the Texas Rural Water Vice President Brian Macmanus Political Action TRWA and Executive Director Lara Zent present Committee PAC funds to U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela.

(PAC) are being put to good use.

landowners to easily remove property from a utility’s CCN area, concerns about groundwater districts limiting permits based on the acreage that a utility owns, TRWA Vice President Brian Macmanus and needed presents PAC funds to Sen. Charles Perry. assistance through a circuit rider type position at the Texas Water Development Board. On the federal level, our PAC donations support legislators in key positions who support the USDA loan and grant program, circuit rider program, sourcewater protection program and EPA training program.

The PAC Trustees met in December and January where they approved a total of $22,500 in PAC donations to give to a list of state and federal elected officials; $15,000 to state legislators and $7,500 to federal legislators. On the state level, PAC checks have already been given to representatives and senators who had primary opponents, and we presented Senator Perry with a PAC check at Convention. Through our PAC donations, TRWA can better connect with and thank legislators who play key roles and who are supportive of our issues. We still have a number of checks to distribute.

Distribution of PAC funds is made directly to the legislators themselves or their campaign committees.

Legislators receive support based on our interests, not based on political affiliation. A PAC contribution helps open their doors to consider our positions on issues important to our membership. We will count on these legislators to assist us in advancing or sponsoring bills and by stopping bad, short-sighted legislation that can hurt our rural systems.

TRWA Board Director Kent Watson presents PAC funds to Rep. Kyle Kacal.

We have also been meeting with key legislators regarding our 2017 legislative agenda and will continue to do so throughout the year. We will be discussing the impact of the laws that allow

Many of you have already made a contribution to the Texas Rural Water PAC in one way or another— whether through sponsorship, participating in our Sporting Clays Tournament or donating items to our PAC auctions at this year’s RuralWaterCon— because you recognize the importance of supporting those who support our rural water interests.

There will be more opportunities to support the PAC at the Training and Technical Conference this July, and we accept sponsorships at three levels throughout the year. For more information on sponsorship levels, please visit our website at www. trwa.org or give us a call at (512) 472-8591.

Quench — March/April 2016 25

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Quench — March/April 2016

TRWA Supports Rural Water Interests at NRWA Rally in D.C.

T

he National Rural Water Association (NRWA) held its annual Rural Water Rally in Washington, D.C. from February 8-10, 2016.

Several of TRWA’s Board, staff and membership attended the rally, which focused on issues such as infrastructure improvements, funding for core areas, and legislative and regulatory changes that affect rural America.

The rally opened with a ceremony that included speeches from NRWA President Charles Hilton, Congressman Tom Cole and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak.

Cole, a Republican representative from Oklahoma, praised the quality of Rural Water programs and the “bang for the buck” they provide. He warned, however, that growing federal deficits were forcing Congress to make difficult spending choices. He insisted that Congress and the next President would have to make hard choices about issues like Social Security, the deficit and the tax code, but added that they would have to make those choices without limiting critical programs, like those that support clean drinking water.

Vilsack’s speech did not focus on the challenges Rural Water faced, but explained why it was important to preserve and promote rural America.

“Rural America is not just the place where we get our food, not just the place almost all the feedstock for the energy we consume comes from, it’s also the

TRWA Board, staff and members visit with Texas Senator John Cornyn during the NRWA Rural Water Rally in Washington DC in February.

place where a disproportionate number of our men and women serving the military come from,” Vilsack said.

More than 44 percent of military recruits come from rural communities. Vilsack believes that rural young people are not enlisting only to find economic opportunity, but because of a value system in rural America.

“People who work the land understand that you have to give something back,” he explained. “It’s a value worth keeping.”

After the opening session, TRWA representatives visited the offices of the congressional districts from Texas, including the office of Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX11), the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, and Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX4). They also met with Texas Senator John Cornyn, who sits on the Senate Committee on Finance and the Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure.

TRWA advocated for funding for the services that we provide to waster and wastewater systems statewide, encouraging our elected officials to join us in the fight to Keep Texas Rural!

Left to right: Rep. Mike Conaway, TRWA Executive Director Lara Zent, and TRWA Board Directors Dolores Goode and Kent Watson.

Quench — March/April 2016 27

TRWA Briefs

Sessions will include discussions on: •

Current trends in human resources

Results of the 2016 TRWA Board Elections

•

Financial management tools

•

Cyber security

•

Using the PUC website

•

Records and information management

•

Insurance topics

•

Daily office operations best practices

•

Office safety

•

Fees you are allowed to charge

W

e are happy to announce the results of our TRWA Board of Director elections, held March 24, 2016, in conjunction with our annual convention, RuralWaterCon 2016.

Barry Miller, Gonzales County WSC, won in District 5; Clay Hodges, Cash SUD, won in District 7; Pat Allen, Green Valley SUD, won in District 9; Kent Watson, Wickson Creek SUD, won in District 10; Kevin Spence, Cypress Springs SUD, won in District 11, Robert Nettles, Riverside SUD, won in District 13; and Rhonda Shaw, Chalk Hill SUD, won in District 14 in our only contested election, winning the bid over Charlie Luse, Etoile WSC. TRWA District Directors are up for reelection every three years, so all aforementioned positions will run through 2019, with the exception of District 14, which was a special election to fill the remainder of a vacancy that expires in 2018. Director positions up for election in 2017 include those for TRWA Districts 2, 3, 8 and 12. We also have vacancies for alternate director positions that need to be filled in 2017 for the majority of TRWA Districts.

The new Executive Committee was also appointed on March 24, which is as follows: Pat Allen, President; Brian Macmanus, Vice President; Chris Boyd, Secretary; Barry Miller, Treasurer; and Clay Hodges, Immediate Past President. Officers serve as members of the Executive Committee for a term of two years.

Join us in welcoming our two new board members, Robert Nettles and Rhonda Shaw, as well as our new slate of officers! We are looking forward to working with them in the coming years to continue to provide you with the best possible services and benefits from our great Association!

Register Today for our Office Professionals Conference

J

oin TRWA and your colleagues for the 2016 TRWA Office Professionals Conference on June 9-10 at the Hyatt Regency on the San Antonio Riverwalk. The Office Professionals Conference has been specially tailored to provide training in areas that will directly benefit water and wastewater utility office staff.

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Quench — March/April 2016

Topics were requested by prior attendees, so we are confident our sessions will bring you the relevant and timely information you need to get the job done.

In addition, the conference location in San Antonio is a great opportunity to turn the trip into a vacation. Your family can enjoy local attractions including Six Flags Fiesta Texas, SeaWorld San Antonio, Splashtown and the San Antonio Zoo! Registration is already live online at www.trwa. org. Save your spot and make your hotel reservation

by May 18 to save on registration and hotel costs.

If you have any questions about this conference, please call Angela Russell, Member Services Director, at (512) 472-8591 or e-mail her at meetings@trwa.org.

Interested in Being Part of the TRWA Team? is creating a “pool” of qualified water Tand wastewater RWA

utility professionals who are available to work on a contract basis for TRWA on short-term assignments when we have additional workload through our state or federal contracts.

The work involves traveling to provide onsite technical, financial and managerial assistance and training to water or wastewater utilities. We require a minimum of five years of experience in utility management and operations, knowledge of federal and state laws related to public utilities, computer proficiency and excellent communication skills. For the state contract work, at least a class B license is also required. If you are interested in this type of occasional work, please send your resume to Pauline.Word@trwa.org.

If you’re interested in regular employment with TRWA, please check TRWA’s current job opening for a full-time, part-time or contract position on page 30 of this magazine and on our website.

City of Idalou Wins Kindle Fire in Membership Drawing

As a token of our appreciation, all TRWA members who participate in the survey will receive one complimentary copy of each report, which will be published in late September. That’s a $200 value!

These reports are only as good as the information that goes into it, so we need your participation to make this a useful tool. The more responses we receive, the greater confidence we have in the accuracy and relevance of the results, translating into a more useful tool for your system.

In 2014, we received 248 responses. Help us reach our goal of gathering data from over 300 systems this year! The survey will be available in both print and electronic format, and all responses will be confidential. TRWA staff will ensure the survey responses are destroyed after we have registered the results and before they are published.

Please respond to the survey by August 15, 2016 to ensure your data is included and your system is eligible for your free copy of our reports! If you have questions about the survey, please contact TRWA Communications Director Allison Kaminsky at Allison.Kaminsky@trwa.org or at 512-472-8591.

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n December, TRWA announced that all systems who renewed their membership online by February 26 would be entered into a drawing for a Kindle Fire.

There were 102 systems who completed their online registration by the deadline and were eligible to win.

The winner of the drawing is the City of Idalou.

Pictured with the prize are Brian Baumann, Public Works Director and Emily Boman, Utility Clerk.

Thank you to all of our members who renewed online. If your system has not yet paid its 2016 dues, please contact membership@trwa.org. Dues must be paid by May 15 to retain your membership status and continue to receive benefits, including your subscription to Quench!

Participate in the 2016 Salary and Rate Survey

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t’s that time again—get ready for the 2016 TRWA Salary and Rate Survey! Every other year, TRWA puts out a comprehensive survey to all member systems regarding salary ranges and averages, benefits, water rate scales, typical fees and usage statistics. Look for this year’s survey the first week of May. The information we gather will be used to compile two reports—a Rate Comparison Report and a Salary Survey Report.

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Classified Ads Public Water System Assistance Specialist Texas Rural Water Association TRWA is seeking to fill an opening for a Technical Assistance Specialist. Water utility professional sought for position providing technical, managerial and financial assistance to public utilities.

Successful candidates will have considerable knowledge of federal, state and local laws related to public water systems. This position requires extensive travel, good PR skills, computer proficiency and attention to detail.

The minimum requirement for this position is a Class B Water License. Surface water preferred.

Salary based on experience. Potential full-time, part-time or contract position.

If you are interested in learning more about this position, please email Celia.Eaves@trwa.org.

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Quench — March/April 2016

Advertiser Index AIA Insurance Agency......................................... Page 14 Childress Engineers......................................................13 Chlorinators Inc.............................................................13 Daniel & Brown, Inc.........................................................7 DN Tanks........................................................................17 Ferguson........................................................................24 Global Treat....................................................................20 Hayes Engineering........................................................12 HD Supply......................................................................21 KSA Engineers...............................................................13 Maguire Iron...................................................................29 NewGen Solutions.........................................................13 Pittsburg Tank & Tower Maintenance Co., Inc............13 RG3 Meters..............................................................10, 26 Russell Drilling Co., Inc................................................30 Schaumburg and Polk...................................................17 Smith Pump Co., Inc......................................................12 Tabor & Associates, Inc................................................30 Tank Connection............................................................13 Texas Aquastore..............................................................7 TraC-N-Trol, Inc..............................................................13 USA Bluebook................................................ Back Cover

Plan Ahead CONFERENCES: June 9-10, 2016

Office Professionals Conference, San Antonio, Hyatt Regency Riverwalk

July 13-14, 2016

Training and Technical Conference, Galveston, San Luis Resort; Hilton; Galveston Island Convention Center

OPERATOR TRAINING COURSES: Water Credit Courses Basic Water Works Operations: Mesquite, May 3-5  Harlingen, June 14-16  San Antonio, June 21-23  Denton/Aubrey, July 26-28 Groundwater Production: Argyle, May 10-12 Water Distribution: San Antonio, May 24-26 Water Sampling and Field Analysis: San Antonio, June 28 Water Technology: San Marcos, May 16-20

Water and Wastewater Credit Courses Advanced Math: San Antonio, June 15-16 Applied Confined Space: Harker Heights, June 2 Basic Math: San Antonio, June 15-16 Chlorinator Use, Handling, Safety, SCBA: Harker Heights, June 1  San Antonio, June 29 Customer Service Inspections: San Antonio, May 10-11  Gladewater, May 24  Argyle, June 1-2  Galveston, July 11-12  College Station, July 19-20 Valve and Hydrant Maintenance: San Antonio, May 3-5  Van, July 6-8  Harlingen, July 26-28 Utility Calculations: San Marcos, June 28-30 Utility Management: Harlingen, May 17-19  San Antonio, June 7-9  Denton/Aubrey, June 28-30  Galveston, July 11-13 Utility Safety: Kenedy, May 3-5  Denton, May 24-26  Harker Heights, June 21-23  Galveston, July 11-13  San Antonio, July 26-28

Wastewater Credit Courses Basic Wastewater Operations: Mesquite, June 7-9 Wastewater Collections: San Saba, June 7-9 Wastewater Treatment: San Antonio, May 17-19 Wastewater Lab: San Antonio, July 6-8

Public Funds Investment Act Training PFIA Renewal: Galveston, July 12 PFIA Initial: Galveston, July 12

Quench — March/April 2016 31

1616 Rio Grande| Austin, TX 78701-1122 Telephone: (512) 472-8591 | Fax: (512) 472-5186 www.trwa.org