This year the US Water Alliance is awarding the 2015 US Water Prize to three outstanding organizations for their outstanding work in promoting the value of water and demonstrating the power of innovation and an integrated approach to “One Water,” i.e., sustainable water management which encompasses the entire water cycle as well as its life cycle from the nation’s headwaters to treatment and reuse. The event will be held at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C. on April 13th. Many of the steering committee members of the Value of Water Coalition, as well as director Radhika Fox, will be in attendance.
The three awardees are:
- City of San Diego Public Utilities Department’s Water Purification Demonstration Project, a “trailblazer” for reservoir augmentation by means of water reuse;
- Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and a collaboration of power companies, farmers, state and federal agencies, and environmental interests, which have established the world’s first interstate water quality trading project in the Ohio River basin; and
- Coca-Cola Company which, as part of its quest for water neutrality worldwide, has “replenished” more than 60 percent of its total beverage volume in North America.
All of these awardees highlight the commitment and innovation we are seeing throughout America’s water and business sectors. The Alliance Board and staff offer their heartfelt congratulations to them all. They are providing models for creative action which allow the nation to restore and protect the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.
The US Water Alliance is also proud to support the Value of Water Coalition in its primary objective to measurably increase public and political support for critically-needed investments in water infrastructure as well as water resources. We view our work with the US Water Prize, “One Water” policies and practices, and urban sustainability and resiliency as complementary to the necessary and important work of the Coalition. The US Water Alliance looks forward to a productive partnership in the years ahead.
