Quench September/October 2015 issue

NEW EMINENT DOMAIN REPORTING REQUIREMENT STARTS NOVEMBER 1

ALSO INSIDE: Communicating Conservation: Emphasizing Capacity over Commodity Small Communities Take on Big Challenges: Finding the Right Solutions SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 WWW.TRWA.ORG

TRWA Today TRWA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers

LEADERSHIP TEAM Lara Zent Interim Executive Director and General Counsel Larry Bell Technical Assistance Director

Clay Hodges Pat Allen

President Hunt (Dist. 7) Vice President Guadalupe (Dist. 9)

Brian Macmanus

Secretary Cameron (Dist. 6)

Barry Miller

Treasurer Gonzales (Dist. 5)

Celia Eaves Environmental Services Director Janice Gibbs, CPA Finance Director Allison Kaminsky Communications Director Angela Russell, CMP Member Services Director Michael Vollmar Professional Development and Training Director

OFFICE STAFF Melody Bennett Project Support Specialist Pam Cantrell Accounting Support Specialist

James Morrison

Immediate Past President Walker (Dist. 13)

District Directors Finley Barnett

Taylor (Dist. 1)

Bruce Alexander

Medina (Dist. 2)

Chris Boyd

Denton (Dist. 3)

Delores Goode Charles Beseda

Lance Harrell Information Technology Angela Harris Member Services Coordinator Jeramie Judd Training Support Specialist Deborah McMullan Assistant Projects Manager Pauline Word Legal Assistant

FIELD STAFF Thomas Acker, Jr. Instructor

Lampasas (Dist. 4)

Michael Beadnell Instructor

Hill (Dist. 8)

Ross Brookbank FMT Specialist Raymond Curtis Wastewater Trainer

Kent Watson

Brazos (Dist. 10)

Kevin Spence

Franklin (Dist. 11)

Vickie Armstrong

Kaufman (Dist. 12)

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

Vacant

District 14

George Patterson Instructor Charles Perkins Circuit Rider Refugio Rodriguez FMT Specialist

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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Quench — September/October 2015

James Smith Circuit Rider William White Circuit Rider

CONTACT THE EDITOR Your comments and opinions, as well as editorial and advertising inquiries, are welcomed and should be directed to the Editor, Allison Kaminsky, at (512) 472-8591 or at 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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Features:

6

New Eminent Domain Reporting Requirement Starts November 1

By Pauline Word, Texas Rural Water Association This new reporting requirement could result in hefty fines if not met, but TRWA is here to help you comply.

22

Ask Larry

Finding Ernest Johnson

12

TRWF’s Veteran Employment Program Welcomes First Female Veteran Participant

28

In Every Issue: Letter from the Interim Executive Director

8

By Khristian Kesterson, Texas Rural Water Foundation TRWF is proud to announce that the VEP has admitted its first female veteran, Helen Huglett.

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Answers to your legal questions

Advertiser Index

31

Plan Ahead

31

The Art of Sustainability: 10 Principles of Sustainable Utility Management

By John Padalino, Kemp Smith LLP This article is the second in a five part series focused on sustainable utility management, centering on the third and fourth principles.

Answers to your technical questions

Keep it Legal

By Clay Hodges, Cash Special Utility District Hear the story of how a Cash SUD crew found a headstone on the job and the quest to return it to the unmarked burial site of World War II veteran Ernest Johnson.

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Small Communities Take on Big Challenges: Finding the Right Solutions

By Kathleen Jackson, Texas Water Development Board Learn about several financial assistance programs the Texas Water Development Board provides to help utilities with their varying needs.

TRWA’s Calendar of Events

22

Water Tanks and Severe Weather

24

Communicating Conservation: Emphasizing Capacity over Commodity

By Erika Henderson, Pittsburg Tank & Tower Group Water tanks should be designed, constructed, maintained and inspected to withstand severe weather during all seasons.

By Chris Ekrut, NewGen Strategies & Solutions Read about how changing the conversation about water conservation will help your community invest in the success of your system.

28 O N THE C OVER : Lake Whitney Dam At Night; P HOTO C REDIT : James Hundley, Water Infrastructure Category Winner in TRWF PH 2OSTREAM 2015

TRWA Briefs TRWA Awards of Excellence Recognize Those Who Shine Above the Rest; Enter the PH2OTOSTREAM Photo Contest Today; Texas Rural Water Foundation Welcomes New VISTAs Quench — September/October 2015

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Quench — September/October 2015

Letter from the Interim Executive Director We have several new faces at TRWA. These new staff members look forward to meeting you out in the field and at upcoming conferences.

Angela Russell is our new Member Services Director. She has been busy making the arrangements for all of our upcoming conferences and is sinking her teeth into several other projects as she learns about TRWA. She is eager to meet our members and to find ways to better serve you.

In the Training Department, we have two new instructors, Michael Beadnell and Thomas Acker, who are each double A licensed operators.

Jeramie Judd is our new Training Support Specialist, who provides administrative support to this department; while Melody Bennett has transitioned to a new role as Project Support Specialist for the Environmental Services and Communications Departments. Michael Vollmar is busy scheduling classes for our new instructors, so please contact him if you would like to host a class in your area.

We also have a new employee in the Technical Assistance Department, Charles “Chuck” Perkins. Chuck and Larry Bell are conducting energy efficiency assessments for water and wastewater systems through a contract with the USDA. The reports they produce recommend ways in which systems may reduce their energy consumption costs. Please contact Larry if you are interested in having an energy assessment conducted for your system.

In the Environmental Services Department, Ross Brookbank recently joined us as an FMT Specialist. Deborah McMullan, our former Sourcewater Protection Specialist, has been promoted into a new position of Assistant Projects Manager for this department. We will soon be hiring a new staff person to replace her old position.

In addition to hiring new staff, we are offering a new service! As you will read in this issue of Quench, starting in November, TRWA will be helping systems comply with the new annual eminent domain filing requirement.

We will take care of this yearly mandate for subscribing systems, so they have one less requirement to keep track of themselves.

Finally, we are working to reinvigorate the Rural Water Emergency Assistance Cooperative (RWEAC), starting with an initiative to sign up more TRWA members to join this free mutual aid program. Our staff met in early September to discuss how we can better respond to systems in need that are impacted by various types of natural disasters. We will have a table set up at our fall conferences handing out our newly updated brochure and will be sending out additional information soon.

As always, please provide us feedback and let us know if there’s anything we can do at TRWA to better serve you, our members.

“Starting in November, TRWA will be helping systems comply with the new annual eminent domain filing requirement.”

Sincerely,

Lara Zent Interim Executive Director and General Counsel Texas Rural Water Association Quench — September/October 2015

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New Eminent Domain Reporting Requirement Starts November 1

By Pauline Word, Legal Assistant, Texas Rural Water Association

S

enate Bill 1812 by the 2015 Texas Legislature requires all entities with eminent domain authority to report specific information to the Texas Comptroller on a yearly basis. The first report must be filed by Feb. 1, 2016. All entities with this authority, including water and wastewater supply corporations, water districts and cities, are required to file this yearly report or face penalties of up to $2,000 for noncompliance.

The Comptroller requested that SB 1812 be filed as a follow-up to SB 18 passed in 2011, which required all entities to report their eminent domain authority to the Comptroller by the end of 2012. SB 1812 will help the Comptroller update and maintain their eminent domain authority database.

According to the Comptroller’s office, their new eminent domain online reporting portal will be available for filing these reports starting on Nov. 1, 2015. Water districts and water supply corporations derive eminent domain authority from Water Code Chapter 49 and general law cities primarily from Local Government Code Chapter 251. Investorowned utilities do not have eminent domain authority.

Entities that did not report in 2012 lost their ability to exercise eminent domain. Texas Rural Water Association filed a list of all members with eminent domain authority and their statutory authority in late 2012 to cover any systems that failed to file on their own. TRWA recently learned that the Comptroller accepted TRWA’s filing as valid, so systems that were members of TRWA at that time retained this authority even if they did not file individually.

Although the new filing requirement is fairly straight-forward, some systems may not have all the information necessary for this filing due to incomplete or missing office records or loss of institutional knowledge with employee and board turnover. For other systems, this requirement will be burdensome because it’s something else they have to keep track of.

Texas Rural Water Association will be assisting 6

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systems with this new state mandate by offering an eminent domain filing service. For systems that subscribe, TRWA will collect the basic information from the system, conduct additional research and file the information with the Comptroller. TRWA will continue to timely file the reports each year, unless a subscribing system cancels the service.

Subscribing systems will not have to worry about forgetting or missing the deadline and being assessed penalties. If an entity fails to report by the February 1, 2016 deadline, the Comptroller will notify the entity it has 30 days to report or be subject to a civil penalty of $1,000. If the entity does not report within another 30 days after the initial notice, the Comptroller will issue another notification with an additional $1,000 penalty.

TRWA members that subscribe will be charged $150 for this new service. Nonmembers that subscribe will be charged $200. Subsequent years will be $50 less. There will be an added charge for last minute subscribers, who sign up on or after January 15, 2016.

For more information or to subscribe to this service please email eminentdomain@trwa.org or call 512-472-8591. A link to the online subscription form will be posted on the main TRWA homepage at www.trwa.org.

Daniel & Brown Inc. Engineers &

Consultants 972.784.7777 —————————— www.dbiconsultants.com

Quench — September/October 2015

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Finding Ernest Johnson

By Clay Hodges, TRWA Board President & General Manager, Cash Special Utility District

T

he story of World War II veteran Ernest Johnson began for me on April 10, 2015.

That day I received a phone call that one of Cash Special Utility District’s crews had just found a headstone. The name carved on it was that of Ernest Johnson, 1915–1993. The stone was found in the easement right of way for a new waterline extension that the District was installing for a new customer along a county road in Hunt County. As you can imagine, work came to a halt. I told the crew to question the property owner to see if he knew about the headstone and if there was a grave at that site. The crew was told the headstone had been there for years and as far as the property owner knew there was not a grave there.

The next day I went to the Greenville library.

Knowing the date of Mr. Johnson’s death, I reviewed old obituaries in the micro-film files of the Greenville Herald Banner. I found Mr. Johnson’s obituary, which said he was buried at Sunny Point Cemetery over in Hopkins County. Distribution Manager Heath McGee drove there the next day and searched the cemetery for any other Johnsons buried there.

There were none. Next, he called the phone numbers of the cemetery board members on a sign at the cemetery and got in touch with Mrs. Joy Evans. Mrs. Evans looked through the records and said there was no Ernest Johnson buried at Sunny Point.

Mrs. Evans told Heath that they were having a cemetery board meeting in May and she would bring up the question of where Mr. Johnson was buried.

After an extensive search, Mr. Johnson’s gravesite was located and a funeral service was planned to pay respects to the WW II veteran.

This news didn’t dampen or curve the determination of the crew members who had found the headstone. They asked that I continue the search because Mr. Johnson was a World War II veteran and he should not be forgotten.

My next call was to the Cumby Funeral Home that was listed in the obituary. I asked if there was a record of the Johnson service and any information of his burial site. However, the funeral home had changed owners, and the new owners had no records dating back to 1993.

The last attempt I made was to contact all the rural water systems around the Sunny Point area to see if any one of them had ever had an Ernest Johnson as a member or knew any of the family.

This again provided no new leads.

At this point, I was thinking about moving our waterline to the other side of the road to avoid the site where we had found the headstone.

Ernest Johnson’s headstone was found by a crew installing a waterline extension in Hunt County.

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I was in Austin the next week and stopped by Representative Dan Flynn’s office where I explained what our crew had found and all the leads turning up nothing. Representative Flynn, who is very active with the Texas National Guard, took interest, and his Chief of Staff David Erinakes started making

The graveside service was attended by members of Mr. Johnson’s family, Cash SUD employees and Army Chaplin Colonol Sewell.

calls for help. They reassured me that Mr. Johnson’s gravesite would be found, and when it was, they would be present to pay their respects and have an Army Chaplin there for the graveside service to set Mr. Johnson’s headstone.

Mrs. Evans called Heath back in mid-May after the cemetery board meeting and said they had found Mr. Johnson’s wife who lives in Houston— she remembered where Mr. Johnson is buried. The Sunny Point Cemetery Board had a survey of the cemetery completed the same year Mr. Johnson was buried, and the survey showed only one unmarked grave. It was in the same location that Mrs. Johnson remembered.

Everyone involved in this search for Mr. Johnson’s gravesite was very pleased. A graveside service was planned with a date set in July and an invitation to the family. Family members who attended the service were Mrs. Ernest Johnson and her two sons, her sister and her niece.

I want to thank the following people for all their help in finding Mr. Johnson’s gravesite.

Members of the Sunny Point Cemetery Board, Mrs. Joy Evans, Mrs. Abernathy, Representative Dan Flynn, Major David Erinakes and Colonel Sewell, Chaplin.

And a special thanks to the Cash SUD employees who showed their true character and never gave up trying to find Mr. Johnson’s gravesite: Heath McGee, Matthew Gibson, Allen Salmans and Albert Crocker. As Colonel Sewell, Chaplin said, “In Texas, we don’t forget our veterans.”

Does your system do something that stands out? E-mail editor@trwa.org or call 512-472-8591 and tell us your story! You could see your system highlighted in the next issue of our magazine!

Quench — September/October 2015

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

Q:

Our policy has always been to use a licensed contractor to install new facilities. Are we required by law to have a contractor who has a water license to install new facilities? Our tariff construction bidding section states the contractor must have a current water license.

A: Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s “Process Control Duties and Direct Supervision” guidance document allows a person to work under the supervision of a properly licensed water operator to install new construction or repair existing lines.

TCEQ’s regulations allow for process control duties and repair/maintenance to be performed under an appropriately licensed individual according to 30 Texas Administrative Code Section 290.46(e). Supervision can include telephone or radio (or other) oversight under TCEQ guidance, but the individual performing the work must hold a minimum Class D license for process control duties.

on your system. Systems can have more stringent polices than TCEQ’s rules, but cannot adopt policies that are less stringent.

Q: We bought 1 acre of land from a customer on our system to install an elevated storage tank so we could transport water from another well to it. The tank is on the highest elevation we could find. After we bought the land, we decided to borrow money and go ahead to drill a well and build a pump house on the property.

When I brought the file back out from when we purchased the land, I realized that we don’t have a Sanitary Easement for outside our property. The previous landowner who we bought it from is deceased now so the daughter owns the adjacent land. We approached her husband about getting a sanitary easement and he said we would have to buy the whole 6 acres behind the well and a small piece of land on the side of our property. I called to ask what his price was and he wants $39,500 for acreage.

“All districts and all WSCs have the right to condemn land for a sanitary (or other) easement...”

The guidance also states a field citation or other enforcement action may be issued against the unlicensed individual for performing process control duties without an appropriate level of operator license when one is required.

Your tariff provision likely was drafted under TCEQ’s old interpretation that required anyone opening a water line for repairs or construction or anyone performing process control functions to have a water license. This is not the current TCEQ requirement; however, your board is well within its rights to require contractors to have a water or wastewater license under your tariff’s construction provisions. The system can keep this tariff provision as another safeguard for the protection of the existing water mains and customers who receive water from those mains.

Bottom line is your system can continue to require a contractor to use workers who are licensed or be licensed themselves when doing construction 10

Quench — September/October 2015

The 6 acres is not good land. They have cut trees and sold the top soil off of it so it would take a lot of money just to fix it back for us to even resell it. I believe he knows he has us in a bind knowing we can’t get the well going until we have that easement. Are there any other avenues we don’t know about? And, can a water supply corporation condemn land for a well site?

A: To answer your last question first: no, a water supply corporation may not “condemn land for a well site.” Section 49.222(c), Water Code, expressly prohibits WSCs and districts from the use of eminent domain powers to acquire either groundwater or surface water rights. However, all districts and all WSCs have the right to condemn land for a sanitary control (or other) easement under Section 49.222.

In this case it may be better to condemn or purchase and “square up” the entire property so you’ll have sufficient land should the board decide

to do something else up there. It may cost a bit more, but then you would have the land beyond the edges of the sanitary control easement should the well not be placed in the “exact spot” for one reason or another. After granting the system with the necessary sanitary control easement, the system could sell the remaining property.

To condemn land for an easement, the WSC would have to get the land appraised and then begin the process of negotiating with this property owner to see if they’ll settle without going through the condemnation process. It’ll take quite a bit of funds to do either the complete purchase of the property or to condemn the property. With condemnation, you may end up paying less for the property, but you will also have to pay professional fees (appraiser, attorney), court costs, and potentially other fees before the process is over.

system’s advantage or disadvantage, depending on the value that is set.

Another option would be for the system to elect to purchase some other property instead of this tract of land, drill their well on it, and then pump the water to the current elevated site. The system should start this new process by purchasing enough property for the sanitary control easement so they don’t have to condemn after the fact. Yes, it would cost money to run a water line from a remote well to the storage tank, but that price would need to be considered in contrast to the amount of money it would cost if they go through with the condemnation process or pay the seller’s asking price.

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

The risk of condemnation is that the landowner could be awarded more than the property owners would have originally charged. The appraisal and the final amount awarded could also turn out to be significantly less than the landowners would have charged. The condemnation process may set a precedent which can either work to the water

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TRWF’s Veteran Employment Program Welcomes First Female Veteran Participant

By Khristian Kesterson, Veteran Employment Specialist, Texas Rural Water Foundation

T

he Texas Rural Water Foundation is proud to announce that the Veteran Employment Program (VEP) has admitted its first female veteran, Helen Huglett.

Hughlett works in the backhoe operator and field technician positions at Fort Bend Municipal Utility District No. 25. Hughlett was raised in Navasota and now lives in Houston. Growing up, Hughlett aspired to be a nurse, but as high school came to an end, she had to decide what step to take next.

Hughlett chose the military and joined the United States Navy and served for eight years. Hughlett wanted to use the freedom of adulthood to become a well-rounded and contributing citizen. “[I] knew the military would offer great training, structure and real-life experiences to help [me] grow,” she said.

At the end of Hughlett’s military service, she was an equipment operator second class and operated heavy equipment for the Seabees, the construction battalions in the Navy. Hughlett’s military career varied as she held many positions.

During her service in the Navy, Hughlett mainly operated heavy equipment on different construction projects, including a period as a member of the water well drilling team. Hughlett found this introduction to the water industry enjoyable and educational, but it was not what inspired her to join the water and wastewater industry.

Hughlett said she did not initially interview for a position in water or wastewater treatment, and did not know much about the industry previously, but after learning more about careers in the industry she said she “was hooked!”

Hughlett has found a rewarding career in water and wastewater, and looks forward to her career in the industry. She earned her class D water and wastewater operator licenses since being hired earlier this year, and is planning to earn the highest licenses possible to eventually become an instructor.

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Helen Hughlett, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, now works for Fort Bend MUD as a backhoe operator and field technician.

“My favorite part of working at Fort Bend MUD 25 would have to be the ever changing to do list,” Hughlett said.

Hughlett enjoys her new career as an operator and the opportunities it provides for her to learn new skills and challenges.

“There is constantly something new to learn or fix,” Hughlett said, and she doesn’t shy away from the messy parts of the job. “I like to get muddy and operate heavy equipment, and there never seems to be a shortage of either of those things.”

At Fort Bend MUD 25, Hughlett said she has found a workplace allowing her to develop within her profession.

“The district is full of great people and wonderful leadership! The knowledge and professionalism of everyone around me pushes me to grow every day, as an operator and person,” she said.

Hughlett emphasized the importance of the VEP, which attracts veterans such as Hughlett to water and wastewater careers.

“The Veteran Employment Program has opened doors for me that I never knew existed,” Hughlett said.

The VEP has led to a career where she can make a difference in her community by providing safe, clean drinking water. After working in the military as an operator, Hughlett said she “never realized that [she] could operate equipment and provide people with one of the most important things in daily life.”

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Veterans have talents and gifts to offer to the rural water and wastewater industry. Hughlett has found a career she can grow and excel in, and we here at the Foundation hope to attract more veterans such as her to the VEP. If your system is looking for dedicated, talented workers or if you know of a system with similar employment needs, contact the Texas Rural Water Foundation at foundation@texasrwf.org.

Quench — September/October 2015

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The Art of Sustainability: 10 Principles of Sustainable Utility Management

Principle 3: Employee & Leadership Development, and Principle 4: Operational Optimization

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

I

n the previous issue of Quench, we focused on product quality and customer satisfaction and how vital those principles are to building community support for your water or wastewater system. This article is the second in a 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 USDA serving as the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service. This article examines how employee and leadership development and operational optimization play a role in sustainability.

Principle 3—Employee & Leadership Development I know an executive in the water industry. He told me once about an employee that he met right when the executive was starting at the utility. The executive needed a PowerPoint and he couldn’t find any staff that could help him. One day, the executive met a new hire just out of high school who knew how to prepare a PowerPoint. From then on, the executive mentored and supported the employee. He encouraged the employee to take any computer classes that interested him. Years later, the employee moved up in the utility business and now manages the network and writes code.

The employee developed skills with the help and support of upper-management, and now the utility has a loyal employee handling an important piece of operations.

Let’s look at another example: the retail industry.

Operational execution, in any field, requires people.

So stores with a gap in people—too few employees or unmotivated or incapable employees—will have a gap in operational execution. But few retailers realize the seriousness of operational problems and how much money they lose by underinvesting in their employees. In grocery retail, for example, close to a third of stockouts are so-called phantom

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stockouts. A phantom stockout happens when the supply chain gets the products to the right store, but customers cannot find them because the products are in the wrong place.

A researcher looked at a specialty retail chain.

Two surveys at a well-known bookstore showed that one out of six customers who asked a salesperson for help finding something had experienced a phantom stockout. Misplaced products obviously lead to lost sales. If a customer can’t locate an item, they will most likely assume that it is not available.

It is the job of the employee to make your product ready and as easily available as possible for your customer. It is estimated that the bookstore’s profits would have been 25 percent higher without phantom stockouts. Misplaced products also frustrate customers, causing them to be less likely to seek out your product in the future.

Happy employees can increase sales in any industry. Happy employees have a greater incentive to work harder for their company and often feel more pride in what they do. In turn, things tend to run more smoothly. Items would be stocked where customers could find them. Information and assistance would be easily accessible and a pleasant experience. Happy employees in the utility industry will come up with innovative ways to improve the operations. Happy employees will respond better to customer calls. Happy employees will lead to happy customers and can also lead to lower costs and more efficient operations, which all contribute to better credit. Happy employees are part of an effective infrastructure funding strategy.

There are many ways to grow a happy employee base. Some of the top ways are through mentoring, skills and leadership development, and job rotations. Pairing senior and executive leaders with less experienced workers or aspiring leaders works to facilitate knowledge-sharing and leadership development. Instructor-led group courses, selfstudy and webinars help with learning and growth while also making the employee feel supported

and part of a team that is invested in his or her success. This creates happy employees who in turn take greater pride in their work. Investment in skills and leadership development not only serves the employees, it also serves the community.

Principle 4 - Operational Optimization What is operational optimization? The system ensures ongoing, timely, cost-effective, reliable and sustainable performance in all aspects of its operations. This means that the key operational aspects are monitored and documented. The goal is to minimize resource use, loss and impacts from day-to-day operations. The system has assessed its current energy use and water loss and performed related audits.

Operational optimization is much more than conducting energy audits, water loss surveys, tracking water pressure and a robust watersampling program. All of these are tasks that you should be doing regularly and, in some cases, must be doing.

More and more systems are going to have to rely on technology to ensure minimal disruption to dayto-day activities. After all, if you want to keep your customers happy, you have to be sure the water comes out of the faucet when they turn the handle.

Systems can ensure operational optimization by having a proper asset management program.

Management of your assets is not only key to optimizing your system, it is also key to receiving funding for your next project. USDA requires that you set aside a reserve for short-lived assets.

They also require that you perform a life cycle cost analysis on the equipment you want to finance.

To maintain these investments over time, systems adopt an asset management program.

Nevertheless, the future of asset management programs will shift from planned maintenance (or

what some folks call preventative maintenance) to condition-based maintenance (CBM) to better optimize the equipment in your system. In planned maintenance, the frequency of maintenance operations are based on recommendations from the equipment manufacturer in combination with internal practices. The disadvantage of this scheme is that there are large deviations in the deterioration of seemingly identical equipment. Furthermore, the maintenance actions themselves will only to a varying degree restore the health of an asset to “as good as new.” This means that a maintenance operator will have to accept either an increased risk of failure or that the maintenance activities at best may be useless, and at worst will introduce new faults.

In CBM, the maintenance actions are based on the equipment’s actual condition, as collected through sensors that monitor relevant equipment state parameters and logged event data related to the physical asset. In this context, event data includes both what has happened to the asset (e.g. installation, break-downs, overhauls) as well as any actions that have been performed on the asset (e.g. repairs, maintenance, oil change). This enables a more relevant foundation for maintenance decisions, as the maintenance operators may have indications of faults before they result in a failure and also positive confirmation when everything is running as it should. Although CBM may come at an increased upfront cost by requiring both extra instrumentation and knowledge on data interpretation, it is regarded as a better choice than conventional maintenance schemes in cases where both maintenance and failure are costly.

Rural systems are particularly well situated for a CBM program. By wirelessly monitoring vibrations and temperatures in your rotating equipment, you Continued on page 16

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can have early fault detection and more proactively take the next maintenance step. An upfront capital investment into a CBM program can help offset long hauls across rural areas to check on equipment at planned intervals and the unplanned cost of faults in the equipment, and will also result in happier customers because of increased reliability.

Now, once you have all of this data—from water pressure, to pump times, to vibrations at the motors—the next big step in operational optimization will be to use all of this data to predict catastrophic events and the best or worst times to use your equipment. The future frontier of asset management programs is predictive maintenance.

As technology increases and costs decrease, a condition-based monitoring and predictive maintenance program will be one of the options that rural water systems must implement. It just makes sense to use technology and data to inform the system of when to do maintenance, when to replace equipment, how to prioritize capital investments and, ultimately, when to seek financing.

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Cedarville 2580 CFWT Cedarville, Arkansas 230,000 Gallons Potable Water Owner: Cedarville Water Utilities General Contractor: Texas Aquastore

In the next issue of Quench, we will talk about Principles 5 and 6. *** John Padalino most recently served as the Administrator for USDA’s Rural Utilities Service where he was engaged in public policy issues affecting the utility industry. He served in several other positions at USDA from Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary for Rural Development to Acting Principal Deputy General Counsel.

John is a partner at Kemp Smith LLP where he represents clients by providing strategic advice on corporate operations, government affairs, and utility issues. John is a public finance and utilities expert working primarily with water and wastewater systems, telecommunications companies, electric cooperatives, renewable energy developers, and lenders across the United States.

Crystal Systems II Hideaway, Texas 250,140 Gallons Potable Water Owner: Crystal Systems Inc. General Contractor: Texas Aquastore

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Quench — September/October 2015

Keep It Legal

Answers to Members’ Questions by Lara Zent, TRWA General Counsel and Interim Executive Director

Q:

We recently learned about a requirement to have federal work authorization verification forms on file for all employees. We have never collected these. Can we ask for these retroactively and, if so, what is the best approach? We want to ensure compliance with the law, if this even applies to us.

A: The federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and subsequent laws amending it, requires all employers to complete and retain a Form I-9 for every new employee hired after Nov. 6, 1986. This law applies to all water supply corporations, districts, cities and investor-owned utilities.

The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) department of the federal government administers this form and it can be found here: http:// www.uscis.gov/i-9.

The attorney we spoke to recommends sending a letter to all current employees letting them know that USCIS requires all employers to have an I-9 form on file for all employees, and that your system is collecting this to come into compliance with this federal law. Be sure to send it to all employees so that you are not discriminating. The attorney also said workers do not have the right to refuse to complete the form on the grounds that an employer didn’t ask for this before, because it still is a requirement under federal law.

The letter also should include the list of acceptable documentation a worker can provide to verify their work authorization. See page 9 of the I-9 form for this list. Only the worker can choose which documents to provide, an employer cannot select for him or require a specific one. The choices are limited to either List A or a combination of List B & List C, as stated in the form.

“Fines are stiff for employers who do not have an I-9 on file for all employees.”

We called the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for ImmigrationRelated Unfair Employment Practices and spoke to an attorney about what an employer should do if they have not collected I-9s from current employees.

This hotline for employers is listed on the I-9 form and is anonymous and available to answer questions Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST at 800-255-8155.

They advise that the fines are stiff for employers who do not have an I-9 on file for all employees.

The OSC also recommends putting the OSC hotline number for employees (800-255-7688) in the letter. This can provide some cover for your system so the employees can verify and understand that this form is a federal requirement for all employers.

OSC recommends giving as much advance notice to your employees as possible. Some of the employees may need to get new documentation, Continued on page 18

Quench — September/October 2015

17

Continued from page 17

e.g. if their driver’s license was stolen. A receipt issued for a new document in this instance can be used to fill out the I-9 and is valid for 90 days under federal law for this purpose (see page 4 of the form), regardless of whether state law only allows a person to use a receipt for a driver’s license for less time.

Even though you will be gathering these forms from current employees, OSC says you should not backdate the forms. List the original hire date and have each employee sign and date with the actual day of signing. OSC recommends attaching a note to each form in your personnel file stating why these were filled out so long after the hire date so you preserve that institutional knowledge.

There is no requirement to file these I-9 forms with any agency, but each system should keep them on file and make them available for governmental agency inspections.

The attorney we spoke with could not comment on how long you have to get into compliance.

She suggested contacting your local counsel to weigh business needs versus risk of exposure and penalties if you are audited in the meantime.

Q: Does the board need to adopt a resolution to select officers?

A: For districts, the law does not require adoption of a resolution when selecting officers. Section 49.054 of the Water Code requires the board to elect new officers after each directors’ election.

A district also must file a District Registration Form with TCEQ every time new directors are elected and this form includes the names of the officers. The form is TCEQ-0179.

The answer is the same for water supply corporations. No formal resolution is required, but WSCs should check their bylaws for specific provisions on this issue.

New officers should be selected after each election at the next regular board meeting and this should be listed on the agenda and posted in accordance with the Open Meetings Act. Districts and WSCs should record the selection of officers in the meeting minutes. I also recommend systems select new officers each time a new director is appointed to fill a vacancy or other change in the board occurs.

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Quench — September/October 2015

Q: Can a water supply corporation enter into an interlocal agreement with a city? What about districts?

A: Water supply corporations have express authority under Water Code Section 67.010 to contract with any political subdivision, federal agency or other entity for the acquisition, construction or maintenance of a project or improvement for an authorized purpose.

WSCs also may contract with a political subdivision under Section 552.014, Local Government Code, to carry out its functions under Chapter 67 of the Water Code. A city also may contract with a WSC under that section in a project or projects the WSC acquires, but conveys to the city.

A city or district may contract with another city, district or river authority for all or part of its water supply or wastewater treatment facilities, or a lease or operation of water supply facilities or wastewater treatment facilities, pursuant to Government Code Section 791.026. The governing bodies of both entities must authorize the interlocal contract.

Districts, cities and WSCs also can contract through billing agreements to disconnect water service if payment for solid waste or wastewater service is delinquent. The authority for solid waste agreements is Local Government Code Section 552.910 and Health & Safety Code Section 364.037. The citations for wastewater billing and disconnection are Texas Water Code Section 13.147 and 16 Texas Administrative Code 24.87 and Water Code Section 13.250(b)(2) and 16 Texas Administrative Code 24.8(e).

I always recommend engaging an attorney to draft and negotiate these agreements to ensure your system’s interests are protected.

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

Small Communities Take on Big Challenges: Finding the Right Solutions

By Kathleen Jackson, Board Member, Texas Water Development Board

C

ommunities facing challenges with their water supply know how important it is to find the right solution. Sometimes the challenges are emergency situations and sometimes they are specific to the size of the community; sometimes something just needs to be fixed. Many communities have found they can rise to these challenges by looking at all of their options. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) provides technical support and numerous financial assistance programs that fit our state’s varying needs, and will work with you to find the strategic approach that is best for you.

Silver Creek Village is a community of 250 people in northwestern Burnet County. In 2012, the village’s main water well ran dry. The scarce amount of water from their back-up well failed drinking water standards, and the drilling of a new well resulted in water with high levels of radionuclides. The village had an urgent need for drinkable water, and they chose to take action by contacting the TWDB. To address unforeseen situations like the one in Silver Creek Village, the TWDB created the Urgent Need reserve within the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. A Very Small Systems reserve was also established within the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to address the difficulty many very small systems have in securing financial assistance.

Both programs offer loan forgiveness (i.e. grants) to provide affordable solutions to water supply systems.

Silver Creek Village used the Urgent Need reserve, with supplemental funding from the Very Small Systems reserve, to install a treatment system and a small reverse osmosis system to further purify the water. The community was able to move forward with a cost-effective solution by working with the TWDB to fund the needed facilities with a financial assistance package they could afford.

Since the creation of the Urgent Need reserve in 2014, seven projects totaling $2 million have been funded. Water systems that may run out of water within 180 days or face an emergency situation are eligible for the reserve, and we have seen many take advantage of that opportunity. Additionally,

when a catastrophic natural event or accident occurs, resulting in the loss of more than 20 percent of the water service connections or 20 percent of the total water supply to customers, the Urgent Need reserve is there.

In 2014, the Baylor Water Supply Corporation anticipated a loss in water for its customers throughout Baylor, Knox, Archer, Throckmorton and Young counties in north central Texas.

The WSC had 13 wells pulling water from the Seymour Aquifer, but only six were operational. To address this problem, it completed an emergency interconnect with the North Central Texas Municipal Water Authority to access water from Miller’s Creek Reservoir. Unfortunately, due to the persistent drought, the reservoir declined to 8 percent of capacity, limiting its ability to be a source of emergency water. Baylor WSC had less than 180 days before it ran out of water.

By requesting funds from the Urgent Need reserve to drill two new wells and put a third existing well into production, the system will again be positioned to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water for its customers.

For very small water systems that serve populations of up to 1,000 people, challenges sometimes result simply from a lack of resources.

Cyndi Park II WSC in Nueces County provided drinking water to its 53 residents from a water well that contained high levels of arsenic. The WSC addressed immediate concerns by adding an arsenic filtration system to the existing well, but it knew a long-term solution was needed. By working with the TWDB and Nueces County, Cyndi Park II WSC used funding from the Very Small System reserve to plan and design a new water transmission line that will provide a reliable source of safe drinking water to its residents.

Since the creation of the Very Small Systems reserve in 2013, the TWDB has provided funding commitments for 42 projects totaling $6.4 million.

While some challenges are more urgent than others, there are many projects that need to be Continued on page 20 Quench — September/October 2015

19

Continued from page 19

funded so that the future of Texas remains strong and viable for the next generation. The City of Honey Grove recently received funding from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for the construction and repair of rural water distribution lines. Honey Grove’s proactive stance to reduce water loss by upgrading its infrastructure will benefit the city today and for years to come.

The TWDB offers many cost-effective financial assistance programs available for a wide variety of water needs. Through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund alone, the TWDB has provided more than $1.4 billion dollars in financial assistance for both large and small drinking water projects across the state—a credit to the cities, towns, communities and rural areas of our state that have recognized their issues and stepped up to contact the TWDB for financial assistance options. The TWDB is eager to work closely with water service providers throughout Texas to plan strategically for the future and craft low-cost financing solutions that will ensure an adequate supply of safe drinking water for all Texans.

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Quench — September/October 2015

Both the Urgent Need and Very Small Systems reserves can fund project planning, acquisition, design and construction of facilities. Starting Sept.

1, 2015, up to $2 million has been allocated to the Urgent Need reserve and another $2 million has been allocated to the Very Small Systems reserve.

The funds are there, but to get these funds in the hands of communities we need applicants. The first step is stepping up—stepping up to address the challenges of today and opportunities of the future by contacting the TWDB. The TWDB has six regional project teams and field offices across the state that work with local communities to provide the resources they need to be successful. The TWDB is a resource for rural Texas. We want to work with you to address your big challenges and find the right solutions.

For more information on the Urgent Need and Very Small System reserves, please contact the TWDB at (512) 463-0991 or Financial_Assistance@ twdb.texas.gov.

Additional information on all of the TWDB’s financial assistance programs, including those for wastewater treatment, is available at www.twdb. texas.gov/financial/programs.

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Water Tanks and Severe Weather

By Erika Henderson, Director of Research, Pittsburg Tank & Tower Group

S

evere weather can be devastating, and according to numerous weather sources, is occurring more frequently and widespread.

Tornadoes are now occurring anywhere from the Rockies to the east coast. This year has seen the southern pacific coast experiencing a severe drought, many areas experiencing flooding and thousands of people were killed in the Nepal earthquake.

Severe weather does not discriminate and it can damage or destroy everything in its path, including water tanks. Necessary water supply for consumption, fire protection and emergency needs is crucial to everyday well-being, and even more when a severe weather event occurs. Therefore, water tanks should be designed, constructed, maintained and inspected to withstand severe weather.

Tanks that have experienced winter storms and freezing should obviously be inspected for damage, but seismic activity, high winds, lightening, droughts and flooding also occur in the summer months and tanks are susceptible to damage from them as well.

High Winds/Lightning Strikes National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) states, “Anchor bolts shall be arranged to securely engage a weight at least equal to the net uplift when the tank is empty and the wind is blowing from any direction (1).” Lightweight tanks definitely need to be anchored against high winds in areas that

A ground storage tank incurs severe damage after a lightning strike.

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Quench — September/October 2015

experience them, and elevated water tanks should have their windage rods inspected and tightened regularly to maintain winds of 150 mph, blowing from any direction.

Tanks not grounded are subject to lightening damage. Lightning strikes could cause power outages that could affect the ability to receive water. Water pumps and alarms could malfunction, or a complete tank failure could occur. NFPA 780 states, “Tanks shall be grounded to conduct away the current of direct strokes and the buildup and potential that cause sparks to ground (2).”

Drought/Flooding When a drought occurs, aggressive water conservation measures are often taken; but tanks still need to be inspected and cleaned. To conserve precious water, Robotic Operated Vehicles (ROVs) can be used to inspect and clean tanks without draining them, thus saving the water.

Foundation damage can easily occur if tanks are subjected to flooding for prolonged periods. Tank sites should have good drainage to minimize or prevent possible foundation damage from flooding.

The site design should also include provisions for draining the tank and the discharge from the tank overflow without damaging the tank site or neighboring properties.

Seismic Activity Tanks are designed and constructed for resisting earthquake damage by complying with the earthquake design load provisions of American Water Works Association (AWWA), in accordance with its Seismic Use Group (SUG) and site class. The SUG is a classification assigned to a tank based on its intended use and expected performance; tanks that serve multiple facilities use the highest SUG. Site class accounts for the effect of local soil conditions on the ground motion and are based on the soil present and their engineering properties as established by a geotechnical investigation. The SUG and site class help determine the appropriate freeboard and the number of anchor bolts needed. Freeboard is the distance from the Maximum Operating Level (MOL) to the lowest level of the roof framing and is

Foundation damage can easily occur if tanks are subjected to flooding for prolonged periods of time.

determined by the sloshing wave height that could occur (3). Freeboard is taken into consideration to prevent a tank from overturning or causing roof damage due to sloshing.

The design of the piping system connected to the tank should consider the effects of foundation movements and potential movement of the connection points during earthquakes. Sufficient flexibility should be provided to avoid release of the tank contents due to failure of the piping system.

The piping system and supports should be designed so as not to impart significant mechanical loading on the attachments of the tank. Mechanical devices that add flexibility, such as bellows, expansion joints and other flexible apparatuses, may be used when designed for the seismic displacements and defined operating pressure (4).

References 1.

National Fire Protection Association, NFPA-22 Standard for Water Tanks for Private Fire Protection.

2013 2.

National Fire Protection Association, NFPA780 Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems. 2014.

3-4.

American Water Works Association, D100-11 Welded Carbon Steel Tanks for Water Storage. 2011.

5. American Water Works Association, M42 Steel Water Storage Tanks. 2013.

What to Look For Water tanks should be inspected regularly for proper working order and stability before severe weather hits. Overhead obstructions, such as trees and overgrowth that could puncture or damage a tank during severe weather should be removed, and operators should routinely look for foundation, wind and earthquake damage. Such damage on tower-supported tanks may be indicated by cracked coating or welds at the tower connections; broken, bent, or sagging rods; buckled struts; dented or twisted columns; or missing or loose rod pins. If any of these conditions are observed, the tank should be professionally inspected. In addition, tanks in areas at high risk for wind or earthquake damage should be inspected more frequently than tanks in low risk areas (5).

Quench — September/October 2015

23

Communicating Conservation: Emphasizing Capacity over Commodity

By Chris Ekrut, Director, NewGen Strategies & Solutions

F

or many cities across the state of Texas, preparing their water utility budget for the recent fiscal year was an eye-opening experience. The months leading up to this time saw drought continue to dominate the state and forced implementation of enhanced water conservation requirements and drought contingency measures.

Faced with this reduction in customer consumption, staff members began to nervously project water revenues for the year and realize that, if the drought did not subside and water sales decreased, many utilities would be unable to fund their financial needs. To buoy utility funds, significant rate increases were brought for consideration before City Councils. In defense of these increases, the drought was consistently noted as the primary reason for the reduction in revenue under the current rates. As a result, residents who had complied with mandatory restrictions and surpassed water conservation targets cried foul, stating they had done their part and asserted that they were now being penalized for using less water. Customers began to publicly question the motivation to conserve.

The situation described above is not unique—it is played out all over the country at various times. As growth places greater demand on water supplies, and drought contingency and water conservation measures result in reduced consumption, utilities are faced with reduced revenues without a commensurate reduction in expenses. This results in the need for revenue increases from customers who are actively engaged in conserving a precious resource. When rate increases are then blamed on the level of conservation, the motivation for customers to conserve is lost.

Conservation is an important long-term strategy for sustaining critical water supplies. The 2012 Texas State Water Plan estimates that by 2060, 2.2 million acre-feet of future water needs will be met with conservation. If industry professionals continue to use conservation as the primary explanation of rate increases to customers, the potential disincentive to conserve felt by customers may make these targets impossible to meet.

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Changing the Conversation By changing the conversation we have with our customers about conservation, we can better explain not only the short-term impact of conservation, but the long-term benefits. In doing so, we need to focus on the “capacity” associated with water service as opposed to focusing on water service as a “commodity.” From an economic standpoint, customers primarily view water service as a commodity driven product—if they use more of it, they should pay more for it. In other words, the price paid for the delivery of goods is directly proportional to the amount of goods received.

However, the provision of potable water service does not fit clearly into this mold.

When an investment is made into a water system, a certain level of capacity is installed. The size of water pipes and storage tanks do not vary directly with customer use. In times of reduced usage, existing pipes and pumps cannot be replaced with smaller and less costly infrastructure.

Likewise, utilities cannot layoff operations personnel when customer consumption is down. In fact, the only true variable costs for a utility—that is costs that vary proportionally based on quantity provided—are typically electricity, chemicals and purchased water supply dependent on contractual terms and conditions. Almost all other cost elements are primarily fixed in nature and will not decrease as consumption decreases.

The capital investment in a water system’s capacity is one of the primary cost drivers for utilities, but the setting of customer rates is not necessarily reflective of this fact. Most water providers utilize a two-part rate structure consisting of a minimum, fixed charge and a variable charge.

In most cases, the majority of a utility’s revenue stream is recovered from the variable portion of the rate, not the fixed component despite the fact that most costs are capacity related and thereby “fixed” in nature. As such, as customer consumption declines, so does the utility’s available revenue. The weighting of revenue recovery more heavily towards the variable or commodity portion of the water rate

is easily understood by customers and aligns with their perception of water as a commodity product.

However, it is this disconnect between the nature of water service and the pricing of water service that makes conservation such a challenge.

Communicating About Capacity Given that most utilities are not politically able to change the way they price water service to emphasize the impact of capacity, we must change the way we communicate with our customers about conservation. Specifically, we need to move away from linking reduced usage due to conservation with resulting rate increases. We instead need to focus on the capacity the utility provides and how this impacts the cost to the customer. Real-world examples are one of the most effective means by which to achieve this goal.

The majority of a utility’s customers have some experience with either a mortgage or car payment.

By equating utility service to this real-world experience, a more understandable link between capacity and utility costs can be developed. For example, there are many times when a customer is not utilizing their car or home. When they are at work, the majority of the house is sitting empty or their car is sitting unused in a parking lot. That does not mean the customer isn’t paying for the house or car, the capacity they have in their house or car is simply not being utilized. Likewise, when customers use less water, the capacity of the water system is sitting idle and is not being utilized to its fullest extent. Like their house or car, the payment must still be made even when the capacity is not in use.

To take the analogy further, the more a customer uses their house or car, the price per unit of use is reduced as the fixed cost of ownership, the monthly payment, doesn’t change. Similarly, when their house or car sits idle, the price per unit of use increases. This same effect is seen with a water utility. The fixed price for the capacity of the system does not change. When more gallons are used, the price per unit of use decreases whereas when less is used, the price per unit of use rises. This explains why conservation can result in short-term price increases. It is driven by recovering the fixed cost of capacity with a commodity based pricing structure.

Finally, customers understand that if they purchase a larger house or a car with more features, the price for these purchases increases. By carefully choosing the amount of space or the features they desire, the customer has direct control over the total price paid. Conservation allows water customers

to do the same for a municipality’s water system.

By conserving water and being efficient users of the water system, customers can minimize future capacity investment in the water system. This is a long-term benefit of conservation. By reducing capacity investment in the system, the overall cost of ownership is reduced, just as buying a smaller house or a car with fewer features will reduce the overall cost of ownership.

Conclusion As an industry, we need to move away from linking reduced usage due to conservation with corresponding rate increases. While the relationship between the two is accurate, emphasizing the relationship is not conducive to encouraging efficient use by customers. Instead, we need to focus on real world examples that all customers can understand and emphasize the long-term importance of conservation on keeping prices low.

By doing so, we can communicate that conservation is not just an important part of water management, but a critical component in a community’s long-term cost avoidance strategy for maintaining lower utility rates. *** Chris Ekrut has been providing financial and management consulting services to the public and private utility industry since 2004. He assists clients in pricing services and developing rates and fees for their water, wastewater, reuse, drainage and electric utilities. Chris works actively before the regulatory agencies of the state, assisting customers and customer groups with regulatory filings and proceedings. He also specializes in assisting utilities in business and implementation planning, focusing on long-term strategy and policy. Chris is a partner with and currently serves as a Director in the Dallas office of NewGen Strategies & Solutions.

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Quench — September/October 2015

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Quench — September/October 2015

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TRWA Briefs TRWA Awards of Excellence Recognize Those Who Shine Above the Rest

D

on’t miss the opportunity to nominate yourself or one of your colleagues for one of the highest honors TRWA has to offer—a TRWA Award of Excellence! Every year, rural water systems across Texas submit nominations for these prestigious awards honoring excellence, dedication and achievement. All employees of TRWA member utilities are invited to recognize an outstanding manager, operator or secretary/office manager for going above and beyond the call of duty. If you know a water/wastewater industry professional who surpasses the rest, be sure to send in your nomination form by December 10, 2015!

Manager of the Year, Operator of the Year and Secretary/Office Manager of the Year awards will be presented at TRWA’s 2016 RuralWaterCon. Winners will be presented with a special ribbon for their name badge, an engraved plaque and a cash prize. New this year, the nominating system of each award winner will also win a free registration to any 2016 TRWA conference of their choice!

Registration for the RuralWaterCon will available on the TRWA website by mid-December. Winners will also be recognized in the May 2016 issue of Quench.

Nomination forms can be found on the Texas Rural Water Association’s website at www.trwa.org.

You can either fill the form out online or download it and mail or fax it to the TRWA office. A detailed essay is required as part of the process. The nomination form contains a list of categories that

should be considered when writing your essay.

Categories include, but are not limited to: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Accuracy/Attention to Detail Attitude Computer Knowledge Customer Relations Employee/Board Relations Innovation Leadership Long-Range Planning Media Relations Organization Problem Resolution Project Coordination Records Maintenance Resource Management

You must address at least six of the categories listed in the nomination form; however, any additional categories, achievements or qualities you wish to note are encouraged.

Please remember that eligibility is limited to employees of TRWA member utilities and that former award winners are not eligible. Each nominee may only be nominated for one of the three awards. All entries must be postmarked or delivered by December 10, 2015 to be considered.

If you have any questions about the nomination form or the awards process, please contact TRWA Communications Director Allison Kaminsky at (512) 472-8591 or Allison.Kaminsky@trwa.org.

Enter the PH2OTOSTREAM Photo Contest Today

W

e are proud to announce the second annual TRWF PH2OTOSTREAM photo contest is now accepting entries! As part of our continuous efforts to shine a spotlight on the past, present and future of rural water, we need your help. PH2OTOSTREAM is our response to a need for images from, and for, rural Texas—a way to share the contributions of rural Texas water and wastewater systems with the greater public. This photography contest will provide both TRWF and TRWA with images to use freely throughout all communications and promotions.

Ask yourself: what do you see when you look at the utility responsible for your drinking water and/or wastewater treatment? Who are the people working to provide these services to rural Texas, and how do they do it? Do you have any historical

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images representing how far we have come from the days of hand pumps and buckets?

Contest categories under consideration include: •

Rural Texas Water: A general category for images representing the rural water and wastewater utility industry

•

Water Infrastructure: Images of the technology that drives water utilities

•

Utility Operators in Action: Images depicting utility personnel working in the field

•

Rural Water History: Images that provide a pictorial history of rural water. If you have images of your system’s ground breaking, your original board, historically significant artifacts, etc., we encourage you to scan your images and send them in!

Each category winner will receive a $50 cash prize and be spotlighted in a future issue Quench.

The Grand Prize winner will be selected from the category winners and will also receive a matted and framed print of their photo. All finalists will receive a letter of recognition, and all entered photos may be featured on TRWF and TRWA program materials, websites and social media, and will be credited to the photographer.

All entry packages must be received by December 15, 2016 to be eligible. Winners will be notified in mid-February, and highlighted in a spring issue of this magazine. For more information about this contest, including eligibility requirements, rules and guidelines, and to download a contest release and entry form, please visit the Texas Rural Water Foundation’s website at www.texasrwf. org. If you have any questions or inquiries about the contest or rules, you may call the Foundation Development Team at (512) 472-8591 or e-mail them at foundation@texasrwf.org with the subject, Photo Contest Inquiry.

Texas Rural Water Foundation Welcomes New VISTAs

T

he Texas Rural Water Foundation (TRWF) is pleased to announce the newest addition to the AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) team working to support TRWF programs.

Wendy Wilson and Colleen Zarek began their oneyear term in August as part of the Foundation’s third year of a three-year grant with AmeriCorps VISTA.

Colleen (left) and Wendy (right) began their year of AmeriCorps VISTA service to the Texas Rural Water Foundation in late August.

Wendy is a native of Dallas, Texas and received her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from Texas A&M University. She is excited to join the team as the new Course Development Specialist.

During her year as a VISTA, Wendy will utilize her background in science education to build capacity among staff at rural water systems through development of new course material for TRWA's training department. After her term as a VISTA, she plans to attend graduate school to pursue her interest in urban planning and policy.

Colleen is originally from Baltimore, Maryland.

She has a degree in Environmental Studies from Salisbury University. Her primary focus at TRWF will be educating water treatment operators on methods of conservation throughout the treatment process. Previously, Colleen participated in a clean water project in Ghana and assisted engineers with well inspections for the Maryland Department of the Environment.

We are excited to welcome these new VISTAs and look forward to their work that will help TRWF to grow and prosper over the next year. If you have any questions about how you can take part in the Foundation’s programs, please visit www. texasrwf.org or e-mail foundation@texasrwf.org.

Quench — September/October 2015

29

30

Quench — September/October 2015

Plan Ahead CONFERENCES: November 4-5, 2015 Fall Management Conference; Water Districts Conference, Dallas, Hilton Dallas/Rockwall Lakefront

OPERATOR TRAINING COURSES: Water Credit Courses Basic Water Works Operations: Kingsland, December 1-3 Water Distribution: Mexia, October 20-22  San Marcos, November 10-12 Water Laboratory: Denton, November 18-20

Water and Wastewater Credit Courses Chlorinator Maintenance: Mt. Vernon, November 17-19  Argyle, December 15-17 Customer Service Inspections: Plantersville, October 20-21  San Antonio, November 3-4  Riverside, November 17-18  Bastrop, December 1-2 Valve and Hydrant Maintenance: Crystal Beach, October 27-29  San Antonio, November 17-19 Water Utility Management: San Antonio, December 1-3 Water Utility Calculations: San Antonio, November 3-5 Water Utility Safety: Quitman, November 10-12  Harlingen, December 15-17

Wastewater Credit Courses Basic Wastewater Operations: San Antonio, October 20-22 Wastewater Collections: Argyle, November 3-5 Wastewater Treatment: Harlingen, November 10-12  Texarkana, December 1-3

Public Funds Investment Act Training PFIA Renewal: Dallas, November 3

Advertiser Index AIA Insurance Agency.......................................... Page 7 American Flow Control ................................................ 11 Childress Engineers .....................................................17 Chlorinators Incorporated .............................................9 Daniel & Brown, Inc. .......................................................6 DN Tanks .......................................................................13 DSA Coatings ................................................................21 Ferguson Waterworks ....................................................4 Global Treat ...................................................................30 Hayes Engineering .......................................................15 HD Supply .....................................................................27 J.F. Fontaine & Assoc., Inc. .........................................21 KSA Engineers ..............................................................13 Maguire Iron ....................................................................9 NewGen Solutions ........................................................25 Pittsburg Tank & Tower Maintenance Co., Inc ...........17 RG3 Meters..............................................................20, 26 Russell Drilling Co., Inc. ..............................................13 Smith Pump Co., Inc.....................................................15 Tabor & Associates, Inc. ..............................................28 Tank Connection...........................................................21 Texas Aquastore ...........................................................16 TraC-N-Trol, Inc. ............................................................21 USA BlueBook .............................................. Back Cover Utility Service Group, Inc. ............................................23 Velvin and Weeks .........................................................23 Quench — September/October 2015

31

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

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