Encinitas, Calif. – Today, Olivenhain Municipal Water District was honored with the McMurchie Excellence in Safety Award at the California Special Districts Association Annual Conference in Monterey. The award was presented by Special District Risk Management Authority for OMWD’s safety practices.
Each year, SDRMA selects two public agencies from its over 650 members for this award. To determine the award re
Encinitas, Calif. — Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s Board of Directors accepted at its February 19 meeting the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers’ Operating Budget Excellence Award for its budget for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
The CSMFO award recognizes public agencies for demonstrating clarity, accuracy, and consistency in their budget document. OMWD’s budget met specific statewide standards and requirements that CSMFO considered to be of the highest quality. CSMFO determined that OMWD is implementing best management practices in budgeting and financial reporting.
Encinitas, Calif. — At its annual conference today, California Special Districts Association honored Olivenhain Municipal Water District with its Exceptional Outreach and Advocacy Award for OMWD’s engagement with legislators and policymakers.
“OMWD is honored to be recognized for our efforts shaping water policy, representing our ratepayers at the state and federal levels, and collaborating with regional partners,” said OMWD Board Director Marco San Antonio.
Encinitas, Calif. — The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada has awarded its Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to Olivenhain Municipal Water District. The award recognizes OMWD’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022. This is the 28th consecutive year that OMWD has earned this honor.
The San Diego County Water Authority was recognized with a national award from the Alliance for Water Efficiency for programs that help county residents and businesses conserve water. The Water Authority earned the 2023 Utility Innovation Award for developing and deploying of one of the first and most comprehensive multi-benefit water-use efficiency incentive programs in the nation, in partnership with the County of San Diego.
The City of Oceanside received an Award of Excellence during the WateReuse conference in September 2021. Oceanside received the Recycled Water Outreach/Education Program Award for Pure Water Oceanside, which pays tribute to an agency that demonstrates a significant and wide-reaching community outreach and/or public education program that informs the community about the presence and benefits of water reuse.
The American Public Works Association and American Society of Civil Engineers recently presented the San Diego County Water Authority with four awards for construction projects that exemplified outstanding skill, dedication and collaboration from staff in many departments. All of the projects were underway or completed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and project teams navigated shutdowns, adapted to health and safety restrictions, and overcame many other uncertainties – in addition to typical challenges encountered during construction projects.
With extensive coordination between the Water Authority’s Asset Management, Operations, Maintenance, Right of Way, Water Resources, Engineering and Public Affairs teams, the First Aqueduct rehabilitation project was completed in early 2021. Significant work had not been performed on the First Aqueduct since the completion of Pipeline 1 in 1947 and Pipeline 2 in 1954. The Operations and Maintenance Teams worked closely with multiple member agencies to ensure no impacts to water deliveries over the extended shutdowns required to reline both Pipelines. These extended shutdowns allowed the Asset Management team to inspect 27 miles of pipeline along the aqueduct using innovative technologies – the first time this had been done in nearly 75 years.
“Since the project included more than 35 work sites spread out over 15 miles, many in rural areas of the county, we collaborated closely between different departments and member agencies to ensure that water service was not disrupted,” said Emma Ward-McNally, Water Authority engineer.
This new facility replaced the existing Vallecitos 2/Vista Irrigation 1 facility that was built in 1954. The Water Authority’s Operations and Maintenance team worked closely with the Engineering team to develop a construction sequence to build the new facility while maintaining water service to member agencies.
“A meticulous level of detail in the design process allowed for the project to be completed with minimal changes during construction,” said Jim Zhou, Water Authority senior engineer.
The new flow control facility replaced the San Diego 12 flow control facility. The Water Authority’s Right of Way team worked closely with the City of San Diego to acquire property rights for the facility. During construction, electrical and rotating technicians from Operations and Maintenance provided support to ensure that the facility was constructed correctly and that electrical relay protection was coordinated when connecting to San Diego Gas & Electric.
“The new facility repurposed an existing building at the site, but it was forward-looking – the project included the installation of a second pipe train for a future inline hydroelectric turbine,” said Aaron Trimm, Water Authority senior engineer.
After nearby Pipeline 4 was repaired in late 2019, the Asset Management team inspected Pipeline 5 in early 2020, and found it needed repairs as well. Multiple Water Authority departments and teams collaborated to launch the emergency repairs on Pipeline 5, despite the uncertainty of the growing pandemic. The Engineering Contracts group executed five contracts and task authorizations for design, construction and inspection within a few weeks to make the project happen, and the work was completed in April 2020.
“The project was a true team effort that required collaboration from multiple departments to ensure that the emergency repair could be completed even as the region was shutting down due to the pandemic,” said Colin Kemper, Water Authority senior engineer.
Marlene Martinez, Senior Geographical Information System Analyst, is the Valley Center Municipal Water District Manager’s Award winner for 2020. Martinez, a 13-year district employee, was recognized for her outstanding work in developing and expanding the District’s GIS program capabilities.
Encinitas, Calif. — Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s Board of Directors accepted at its November 18 meeting the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. This marks the twenty-fifth consecutive year OMWD has received the award.
Vista, Calif. — Vista Irrigation District has been presented with the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for its comprehensive annual financial report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2019. This certificate is the only national award for public sector financial reporting.
