City of Santa Rosa Wins ACWA's 2005 Clair Hill Award.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) today presented its prestigious Clair A. Hill Award to the City of Santa Rosa for its Santa Rosa Geysers Recharge Project.

The award was presented to the district during the ACWA Spring Conference, a statewide event attended by more than 2,000 water officials. Santa Rosa was selected from among six finalists to receive the award.

"The City of Santa Rosa has provided an outstanding example of innovation and leadership in the water community," said ACWA President Jerry Gladbach. "This ambitious project is really a win-win situation in that it deals with wastewater in an environmentally responsible manner while at the same time producing clean, needed power for the region."

The idea for the project was born when the City of Santa Rosa sought an environmentally responsible way to dispose of recycled water without increasing discharge to the Russian River. The solution was a 40-mile pipeline, conveying 11 million gallons of recycled water every day to recharge the aquifer at the Geysers -- the world's largest steam field. The steam field provides electricity for up to 100,000 residents each year.

ACWA's Clair A. Hill Water Agency Award for Excellence is an annual awards program that recognizes outstanding achievements by public water agencies. The winning agency receives a $3,000 scholarship to award to a deserving student in the name of Clair A. Hill, founder of the consulting engineering firm CH2M Hill. The winner is recognized at the association's conference as well as throughout the year.

Other finalists for this year's award were:

--El Dorado Irrigation District, in recognition of its Lake Aloha Dam Restoration Project;

--East Bay Municipal Utility District for its Contracting Price Adjustment Process for Major Multiple Year Contracts;

--Contra Costa Water District for its Delta Discovery Voyage Program;

--Inland Empire Utilities Agency, in recognition of its Waterwise Garden in Every School program; and

--Santa Clara Valley Water District for its Water Softener Rebate Pilot Program.

The Clair A. Hill award was established by ACWA in 1988 at the request of CH2M Hill.

Past award recipients include:

--Irvine Ranch Water District (1989),

--Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (1990),

--Imperial Irrigation District (1991),

--Modesto Irrigation District (1992),

--Orange County Water District (1993),

--Central Basin Municipal Water District / West Basin Municipal Water District (1994),

--East Bay Municipal Utility District (1995),

--Calleguas Municipal Water District (1996),

--San Diego County Water Authority (1997),

--Kern Water Bank Authority (1998),

--Western Canal Water District (1999),

--the Water Forum (2000),

--Eastern Municipal Water District (2001),

--Mid-Peninsula Water District (2002),

--Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (2003), and

--Carmichael Water District (2004).

ACWA is a statewide association whose 440 public agency members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, contact ACWA at 916/441-4545 or visit www.acwa.com.