Executive Director's Message: Water is a Continuum and Unites Us All! AWWA is Total Water Solutions

How many of us in the water community deal primarily in one "type” of water? I would venture to guess that less than 25% of us solely work on the drinking water side or the wastewater side, seek only to conserve, reuse or recycle water or use Mother Nature’s Fury, stormwater. Then there is the two headed aspect of water created through the dichotomy of the Clean Water Act versus the Drinking Water Act. On one hand we have the framework for protecting and restoring the nation’s waters, and on the other we have a law which requires many actions to protect drinking water and its sources.

I find, like many of you, that my personal and professional interests cross over into various areas of water. As Executive Director of the Intermountain Section I am up to my eyeballs on a daily basis in drinking water. However, I am also professionally involved in watershed water quality. This side allows me to study water quality in our surface and groundwater, design watershed restoration plans, and also gets me in the field to do observations. I love being in the watershed and much of my recreation time is spent near, in, and on the water. Also, my volunteer time is spent teaching school aged children about watersheds.

The American Water Works Association’s Board has taken a great step in recognizing that water is a continuum, an enormous, moist circle where the inputs from one element are the outputs of another circulating back on itself. The new AWWA Strategic Plan is based on five key decisions, one of which is that AWWA is Total Water Solutions. AWWA will remain focused on drinking water, however, AWWA is more than just drinking water.

This expanded characterization for AWWA is a natural. Currently many resources delivered through the Association and Sections focus on wastewater, stormwater, and reuse. There are standards, manuals of practice and other resources that specifically address these subjects. Also, over 50% of member utilities are combined utilities in some form. It is time that AWWA has acknowledged that all water is connected directly or indirectly to drinking water and advanced our perspective to include Total Water Solutions.