Nov. 19, 2007—Aided by the management expertise of CH2M HILL OMI, the City of Venice, Fla., has won a 2007 Water Conservation Award for Excellence from the Florida Section American Water Works Association.
Granted in the category of “efficiency with alternate water supply,” the award
Accepting the 2007 Water Conservation Award for Excellence
from the Florida Section AWWA are, from left to right, Len Bramble,
city utility director; Rocky Reid, city environmental specialist;
and Paul Cortez, CH2M HILL OMI Operations Manager at the Venice plant.
Since 2004, CH2M HILL OMI has managed the city’s water and wastewater system and staff. Under the company’s guidance, the city developed and implemented new policies and practices to increase how much reclaimed water is used. The city and CH2M HILL OMI worked with subdivisions, both large and small, and with private entities like local golf courses to encourage irrigation with reclaimed water. At the same time, CH2M HILL OMI established guidelines to better manage and monitor the water in seasonal storage ponds and define other optimization techniques.
These efforts increased the amount of reclaimed water used annually from 41 percent to 89 percent over a two-year period. And since March 2007, 100 percent of reclaimed water has been put to beneficial reuse.
The project was directed by Operations Manager Paul Cortez, who also took the lead on nominating Venice for this important award.
“This award helps demonstrate the expertise and influence that CH2M HILL OMI can bring to help cities reduce their environmental impact,” says project director Gerald Boyce. “It’s a pleasure to work with progressive cities like Venice that are committed to supporting sustainability.”
The award was presented Nov. 14 at the Florida Section AWWA meeting in Orlando.
In a statement, Venice city manager Marty Black says, “The Venice utilities staff continues to develop and implement strategies to conserve our precious water resources and to respect the natural environment. City residents and property owners should be proud of the efforts made by these city employees to provide excellent service to the community.” |
