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WEF Announces the 2020 California Utilities of the Future

From WEF
Announcements, Members in the News

Congratulations to the 65 Utility of the Future Today honorees for 2020!  

This is the fifth year of the Utility of the Future Today (UotFT) program and saw the greatest number of applicants and honorees. These honorees have received a Certificate of Recognition and/or a UotFT banner or a 2020 flag.  This year, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, WEF and its partner organizations are not able to acknowledge the 2020 honorees in person at WEFTEC. Instead, an Awards Ceremony video has been created and is available here.

“The transformational approach to utility management each of the Utility of Future Today honorees has shown benefits communities in several significant ways,” said WEF President Jackie Jarrell. “We are delighted to celebrate the impact of these utilities and proud to recognize their leadership in water sector innovation.”

The UotFT Recognition Program promotes a community of innovative water utilities engaged in advancing resource efficiency and recovery, developing proactive relationships with stakeholders, and establishing resilient, sustainable, and livable communities. The Recognition Program, through the aggregation and sharing of utility advancements and experiences, enables participants across a broad continuum of capacities and capabilities to learn from each other and continually grow and sustain their efforts to be, and continually advance the concept of, the Utility of the Future.

The UotFT program focuses on activity areas which are the foundational building blocks of successful utilities:

  • recovery and new uses of a full range of resources;
  • engagement as a leader in the full water cycle and broader social, economic, and environmental sustainability of the community;
  • transformation of the internal utility culture in support of these innovations; and
  • engagement in the community and formation of partnerships necessary for success when operating outside of the traditional span of control of the utility.

The Utility of the Future Today Recognition Program is a joint initiative led by the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), the Water Research Foundation (WRF) and the WateReuse Association, and is supported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Wastewater Management, and the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy.

California’s 2020 Utilities of the Future Award Winners

These utilities are being recognized for the first time:

  • City of Oceanside (Oceanside, Calif.)
  • City of Pismo Beach (Pismo Beach, Calif.)
  • Eastern Municipal Water District (Perris, Calif.)
  • Irvine Ranch Water District (Irvine, Calif.)
  • Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (Los Angeles, Calif.)
  • Moulton Niguel Water District (Aliso Viejo, Calif.)
  • Padre Dam Municipal Water District (Santee, Calif.)
  • Silicon Valley Clean Water (Redwood City, Calif.)
  • Water Replenishment District (Lakewood, Calif.)
  • West Basin Municipal Water District (Carson, Calif.)

These utilities are being recognized for a second year but for a new area of performance:

  • City of San Luis Obispo Utilities Department (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
  • LA Sanitation and Environment (Los Angeles, Calif.)

These utilities are being recognized for a third year and in a new area of performance:

  • Delta Diablo, (Antioch, Calif.)
  • Orange County Sanitation District (Fountain Valley, Calif.)
  • San Francisco Public Utilities (San Francisco, Calif.)

To learn more, visit WEF’s Utilities of the Future webpage

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