Tue, 03/10/2026 - 10:06

LOS ANGELES – The WateReuse Association (WateReuse) has announced its annual Awards for Excellence winners. The winners include individuals, initiatives and facilities driving increased knowledge, awareness and adoption of water reuse practices and technologies.
 
The awards include the WateReuse Awards for Excellence (multiple categories), President’s Awards and Service Awards.

 

WateReuse Awards for Excellence

The WateReuse Awards for Excellence recognize the people, projects, and partnerships that demonstrate exceptional leadership toward building more resilient communities through water reuse. Award recipients use water recycling in novel ways to solve water management challenges, advance policies that facilitate greater adoption of water recycling, and inspire others through their innovation and leadership. To read more information about the award winners, visit this page. 
 
The award winners are:

 

Advocacy Achievement

  • Danielle Francis, Water Services Association of Australia
  • Deven Upadhyay, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
  • Anne Arundel County, Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, Maryland State Delegate Andrew Pruski
The Advocacy Achievement award recognizes individuals and organizations for significant achievements in advancing policy, legislation or regulations that facilitate greater adoption, implementation or acceptance of recycled water.

 

Community Water Champion

  • Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority
  • Monterey One Water
  • City of South Jordan, Utah
The Community Water Champion award recognizes the accomplishments of utilities and local government entities that ensure a safe, reliable, locally controlled water supply through the development of water recycling treatment facilities, infrastructure and/or other water reuse projects.

 

Excellence in Action

  • Hyperion Advanced Water Purification Facility
  • Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department
The Excellence in Action award recognizes community leaders that demonstrate a commitment to water resiliency through the innovative use of recycled water for commercial operations, watershed restoration projects, irrigation, and other projects.

 

Outreach & Education

  • Orange County Sanitation District: Citizen’s Academy
  • Valley Water: Internal Communications
  • Suzanne Grendahl, City of Scottsdale: Water Citizen Academy
The Outreach and Education award recognizes significant success in advancing public acceptance of recycled water, including short-term campaigns, educational programs and events.

 

Up & Comer

  • John Sheets, PhD, PE – CDM Smith
  • Carlyn Higgins, PhD, PE – Hazen & Sawyer
This award recognizes a professional with less than 10 years in the recycled water industry for their leadership in the industry and commitment to pursuing water recycling as a career path.

 

Presidents’ Awards

  • Craig Lichty, Black and Veatch
  • Dr. Rhodes Trussell, Trussell Technologies
This award recognizes individuals who have significantly contributed to the advancement of water reuse through exceptional service and leadership. This award is given at the discretion of the WateReuse President.

 

Service Awards

  • Deven Upadhyay, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
  • Paula Kehoe, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
  • Wayne Young, Jacksonville Electric Authority
  • Craig Lichty, Black and Veatch
  • Erin Young, City of Flagstaff
  • Royce Davis, Jacobs
The WateReuse Association recognized these individuals for their service on our board of directors. Their leadership and vision have helped drive the national adoption of water reuse policies and programs.