Meet the 2026 AWE Award Winners
Published: August 13, 2026
Each year, the Alliance for Water Efficiency recognizes the individuals and organizations whose leadership, innovation, and commitment are helping advance water efficiency and conservation across North America. Our annual awards celebrate the many ways AWE members are making an impact, from advancing water-efficient practices and policies to developing new approaches for stewarding our limited water resources.
At the 2026 Water Efficiency and Conservation Symposium in Chicago, we were proud to recognize this year’s award recipients and celebrate their contributions alongside colleagues from across the water efficiency community. From longtime leaders in the field to organizations demonstrating what’s possible through collaboration and innovation, this year’s honorees reflect the expertise, dedication, and impact of the AWE network.
The 2026 Excellence in Equity Award: Portland Water Bureau
The Excellence in Equity Award honors an AWE member who has significantly advanced equity in water access, conservation, or efficiency. This year, we are honored to recognize Portland Water Bureau.
Portland Water Bureau has demonstrated a deep and sustained commitment to providing financial assistance to help ensure members of its community can access water services, information, and conservation programs. Their leadership in equitable community engagement includes extensive language translation across customer resources and webpages, as well as contributions to the California Water Efficiency Partnership's Language Translation Task Force.
The Bureau has also developed innovative programs that directly address barriers faced by underserved communities. Its Home Water Leak Repair Program assists income-qualified homeowners with critical leak repairs, reducing water waste while helping residents avoid costly water bills. Ongoing accessibility initiatives, annual equity reporting, and the integration of social vulnerability data in asset management, capital projects, and affordability programs further demonstrate Portland’s commitment to embedding equity into every aspect of utility planning and decision-making.
The 2026 Up and Comer Award: Dr. Delorean S. Wiley
Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Program Administrator, Austin Water
The Up and Comer Award recognizes a rising professional with fewer than five years in the field who has already made a significant impact in water efficiency, conservation, and sustainability. This year, we're honored to celebrate Dr. Delorean S. Wiley, the Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Program Administrator for Austin Water.
Since becoming Austin Water's Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Program Administrator, Dr. Wiley has revitalized the utility's commercial water-efficiency portfolio. Under her leadership, the Bucks for Business program grew from approximately 622,000 gallons of annual water savings prior to her tenure to more than 23 million gallons in her first year and more than 27 million gallons in her second. She also launched a new commercial water audit program that quickly gained momentum, helping businesses identify new opportunities to reduce water use while building stronger partnerships with customers.
Dr. Wiley combines technical expertise with strategic leadership and a passion for advancing the profession. She organized the 2026 Central Texas Water Conservation Symposium, serves as a leader on the Texas AWWA Business & Industry Committee, and has shared best practices nationally through EPA WaterSense webinars.
The 2026 Innovation in Utilities Award: Western Municipal Water District
The Innovation in Utilities Award recognizes a utility that is advancing water efficiency through innovative practices, tools, or technologies. This year, we're thrilled to present the award to Western Municipal Water District, whose Water Efficiency Assessment, or WEA, Program is redefining how utilities deliver water conservation.
Rather than relying on traditional audits that end with recommendations, Western Water's integrated WEA Program combines Advanced Metering Infrastructure leak analytics, proactive customer notifications, on-site diagnostics, direct leak repairs, irrigation optimization, and installation of water-efficient technologies into a single, coordinated service. By connecting leak detection with immediate implementation, the program transforms conservation from passive reporting into measurable action.
This innovative approach includes:
- Proactive AMI-based leak detection and customer notification
- Indoor and outdoor water efficiency assessments
- On-site leak diagnostics and minor leak repairs
- Installation of weather-based irrigation controllers, high-efficiency nozzles, and irrigation system optimization
The scalable and replicable program has already helped identify and resolve hidden leaks, reduce water waste, improve long-term customer efficiency, and provide measurable water savings using pre- and post-assessment AMI data.
Volunteer of the Year: Jessica Woods
City of Round Rock, TX
Few professionals in the AWE community have more experience and expertise than Jessica. She has devoted more than 25 years to advancing water efficiency and conservation, which includes working for the city of Round Rock, TX, since 2009 where she is currently the Senior Water Conservation Coordinator. Before Round Rock, she worked on water conservation for Austin, TX.
We are so thankful that Jessica shares her time and expertise to support AWE and the broader water conservation community. She has been an active AWE member and volunteer for years and has recently taken it to another level.
She is co-chair of the Education and Outreach Committee; a PAC member and project participant in the Behavior Change for Water Change Project, funded by Scotts Miracle Gro Foundation; she’s on the steering committee for the Fundamentals of Water Efficiency and Conservation Training (aka, Water Conservation 101); she served on the 2026 Symposium Program Advisory Committee; and she and Round Rock are participating in AWE's water reuse and efficiency integration research project.
The 2026 Water Star Award: Scott Winter
Colorado Springs Utilities
The Water Star Award honors an individual whose career has significantly advanced the field of water efficiency through vision, technical expertise, and long-term impact. This year, we are proud to recognize Scott Winter, whose more than 22 years of leadership have helped redefine water conservation, demand management, and resource planning throughout Colorado and across the western United States.
Scott has been the analytical architect behind Colorado Springs Utilities' nationally recognized water efficiency program. He has authored three groundbreaking Water Efficiency Plans, pioneered the utility's comprehensive Water Loss Control Program, advanced innovative demand forecasting using spatial regression modeling, and led development of one of Colorado's most comprehensive 25-year conservation potential studies. His work has transformed how utilities integrate conservation into long-term water supply planning and has helped establish water efficiency as an essential resource alongside traditional water supply development.
Scott's influence extends well beyond his own utility. He helped shape Colorado's commercial landscape codes, championed the use of native grasses decades before they became common practice, and played a role in developing Colorado's Native Grass Guide. His expertise has informed statewide planning efforts, Water Research Foundation studies, Colorado WaterWise, the Colorado Water Loss Initiative, and numerous Alliance for Water Efficiency committees. A sought-after speaker and mentor, Scott has inspired countless professionals through his technical leadership, thoughtful collaboration, and commitment to rigorous, data-driven conservation.
AWE Member of the Year Award: Water Provider
San Antonio Water System (SAWS)
SAWS has a distinguished history as a national leader and innovator in water conservation, efficiency and reuse. Its innovative water-saving programs and strategies have reduced water consumption in the greater San Antonio area and have served as examples for other water providers to learn from, which is made easier by SAWS’ passion for peer-to-peer sharing and collaboration.
We see that through their long-standing leadership roles in Texas – such as chairing the Texas Water Development Board Water Conservation Advisory Council – and the many ways they support AWE’s mission and our community across North America.
SAWS has been an AWE member since 2008 and was a Platinum Charter Sponsor. Karen Guz, their now-retired Vice President of Conservation, joined the board in 2020 has been our board chair since 2024. SAWS is also active with AWE advisory committees, sponsors this Symposium, participates in research projects while also co-funding many. Recent examples include
- AMI Engagement Benchmarking Tool
- The WRF Per Capita Water Use Calculation Study
- Water Reuse and Efficiency Integration Study
- Large Landscape Transformation and Irrigation Optimization Study
- The Best-in-Class Resource for Smart Practices for Residential Landscape and Irrigation Programs
AWE Member of the Year Award: Affiliate
Los Alamos National Laboratory
AWE was thrilled when Los Alamos National Laboratory became the first-ever National Laboratory to join AWE in 2024. We appreciate the Lab’s scientific and engineering expertise across many disciplines, including water and energy efficiency. Not only does the Lab conduct research, they also manage water use across a 40 square mile campus.
Over the past 2 years, AWE turned to the Lab for objective, science-based information about data center water use based on their expertise derived from research and from operating data centers on campus. While data center companies may be reluctant to share some information, the Lab was forthcoming. In fact, they agreed to co-author the Data Center Primer for Water Providers resource that we recently released. Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District is also a co-author, and they won this award last year.
AWE Member of the Year Award: Business & Industry
Procter and Gamble
Since joining AWE in 2020, P&G has been an active member of the Business and Industry Committee and present at the annual Symposium. Moreover, P&G has recently spearheaded and funded two exciting research projects in partnership with AWE. Last fall, we released “Advancing Sustainability through Household Consumer Products: Guidance & Insights for Estimating and Communicating Water Savings”. This groundbreaking resource provides a practical framework for companies, practitioners, and researchers to consistently estimate and communicate water savings from household consumer products and campaigns.
This year, AWE partnered with P&G to complete a comprehensive review of the best available data to capture the water savings potential of washing dishes with a machine vs. hand washing at the sink. The common wisdom is that machine washing is more water efficient, but there is limited published data to support this claim. AWE completed a literature review and P&G shared their own research and results for us to review and assess the rigor of their study parameters and conclusions.
This work will inform a white paper and a technical paper planned for release this summer, representing the most comprehensive published review of this topic.