Announcing the 2024 AWE Member Award Winners
2024 AWE Member Awards
For the past 15 years, the Alliance for Water Efficiency has recognized the outstanding achievements and impacts of our members through the presentation of annual member awards. The 2024 awardees were recognized during an Awards Reception hosted on the morning of August 8th, during AWE's 2nd Annual Water Efficiency & Conservation Symposium in Chicago, Illinois. Our Board of Directors, CEO, and staff were thrilled to honor the hard work, leadership, and dedicated service of several of our individual members and member organizations through these awards. Join us in celebrating our 2024 award winners!
Member-Nominated Awards
The following awards were selected from organizations and individuals nominated by AWE members.
Excellence in Equity Award: Tucson Water
(Ron Burke presents the award to Candice Rupprecht on behalf of Tucson Water)
The Excellence in Equity Award recognizes an AWE member organization for significant success in advancing equity through their work with diverse populations. This may include practices or programs geared towards equitably serving BIPOC communities, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ persons, veterans, and low-to-moderate-income households.
Since implementing the first Tucson Water conservation programs in 1990, the department has offered parallel low-income services and mapped conservation program data to design programs that increase participation across neighborhoods with lower incomes. Tucson Water has partnered with the Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona for the past 15 years to provide over 9,000 free toilet installations and, in 2019, launched an Emergency Plumbing Repairs program (inspired by San Antonio Water System) that has helped over 800 households.
Another innovative program is a partnership with Sonora Environmental Research Institute to offer qualifying low-income customers design consultations and installation services for rainwater harvesting. These customers are eligible for grants, zero-interest loans, and rebates. In the last year, SERI has also started offering discounted clothes washers and gray water grants and loans.
Looking ahead, the city’s Equity Office and Tucson Water staff recently completed a report titled “Tucson Water’s Racial Equity Evolution: A Starting Point” that includes forty-three recommendations for additional progress.
Innovation in Business Award: Yoppify
The Innovation Award recognizes technological advances, research breakthroughs, and innovative practices of a current member organization that champions the adoption, implementation, or public acceptance of water efficiency and sustainability.
(Ron Burke presents the award to Todd Schultz, Matt Olsen, and Preston Mitchell on behalf of Yoppify)
Yoppify's technology solutions enable water utilities to communicate directly with customers via text, email, phone calls, or mailers. Unlike traditional engagement tools, Yoppify's platform ensures higher customer reach and effectiveness. Their data-driven messaging, leveraging water use insights and targeted conservation recommendations, drives behavior change. This approach fosters greater awareness of water use and conservation, ultimately resulting in water and cost savings.
In response to Utah's legislation mandating statewide water metering by 2030, Yoppify recognized that the success of this initiative hinged on agencies' ability to communicate with water users before, during, and after meter installations. Yoppify secured grant funding to assist agencies with their metering projects, ensuring new meters lead to tangible water savings by making water use insights readily accessible and actionable for residents—no login required.
Up & Comer Award: Rachael Belisle-Toler
(Ron Burke presents the award to Rachael Belisle-Toler)
The Up and Comer Award recognizes an individual employee of a current AWE organizational member with less than five years in the water efficiency, conservation, and sustainability field for their leadership and commitment to pursuing water efficiency as a career path.
Rachael Belisle-Toler is this year's Up & Comer Awardee! Despite being new to her role as Water Resources Manager with Ipswich Utilities, Rachael has quickly developed a broad knowledge base and taken the initiative to spearhead many innovative efficiency and conservation projects. Some of those include:
- Securing grants, such as for rainwater harvesting workshops, drought-friendly landscape education, and related supplies to 13 multi-family buildings within the Ipswich Housing Authority
- Starting a Water Use Assessment Program that performs landscape surveys to help incorporate rainwater harvesting.
- She helped to conceptualize and participate on a state-level Water Efficiency Advisory Committee.
- Developing a new native plant palette app, a program that has been recognized as innovative by the state’s Environmental Secretariat.
Rachael is eager to get involved and make an impact at a local and regional scale. Her passion for infrastructure, sustainability, justice, and resource governance is motivated by kindness. Her enthusiasm for all things water efficiency is made very clear by her constantly going above and beyond in terms of participation, new and creative approaches, and overall joyful demeanor.
Water Star Award: Deirdre Irwin
(Ron Burke presents the award to Deirdre Irwin)
The Water Star Award recognizes individual excellence in water efficiency and celebrates a water conservation practitioner who is making a difference through dedication and passion. This individual has made a significant impact in the water efficiency, conservation, and sustainability field.
Deirdre Irwin is the Water Conservation Coordinator for St. John’s River Water Management District in Florida. The District covers an 18-county region in northeast and east-central Florida. Dierdre has worked at the District for 32 years and has focused on water conservation for the last 12 years while greatly expanding the District's conservation programs.
Dierdre is well known throughout Florida as one of the state's top conservation professionals, a leader, and a mentor. She does inspector and irrigation professional training in multiple venues and holds quarterly meetings for conservation professionals in her region. She has also been instrumental in developing new water efficiency codes and standards in the region. She worked on expanding the breadth and scope of the Florida WaterStar Program for her district, expanded the program statewide, and now serves as its statewide coordinator. The program certifies homes and commercial buildings that use less water in landscapes, irrigation systems, and indoors. Thousands of Florida homes across the state have been certified, and each is saving up to 50,000 gallons of water annually. Additionally, she has worked on utility conservation plan reviews for the district’s regulatory program, and these plans increasingly focus on aspects of the Florida WaterStar Program.
She is active with the UF Florida Friendly Landscaping Program and the District’s cooperative funding program that makes grant money available for conservation projects. Deirdre has chaired and been a vital member of the Water Use Efficiency Division for the Florida Section of the AWWA. She also serves on the statewide Florida-Friendly Landscaping Advisory Committee and on the Board of the Florida Green Building Coalition.
Colleagues say Deirdre is very outgoing, has a warm and engaging personality, and has a penchant for helping others (it’s in her Irish blood!). Her efforts have helped her region and the entire state of Florida be leaders in water efficiency innovation.
Click here to learn about previous Water Star Awardees
AWE Staff & Board-Nominated Awards
These awards are chosen by the AWE staff and Board of Directors. They honor individuals and organizations whose contributions to the Alliance have significantly impacted AWE as an organization.
Member of the Year Awards
The Member of the Year Award is an award intended to recognize an organizational member of the Alliance for Water Efficiency serving as a leader in the water efficiency and conservation community. An organizational member who has demonstrated consistent commitment to and support for the work of the Alliance for Water Efficiency--in recognition of their outstanding support and dedication to the Alliance for Water Efficiency and its mission to promote the efficient and sustainable use of water.
Affiliate Member of the Year: Colorado Water Conservation Board
(Ron Burke presents the award to Kevin Reidy on behalf of CWCB)
Business & Industry Member of the Year: LIXIL
(Ron Burke presents the award to Troy Benavidez, Julia Deister, Thorsten Kostrzewa, and Taishi Okano on behalf of LIXIL)
LIXIL is an AWE Charter Sponsor and has collaborated with AWE in numerous ways over the past 16 years. LIXIL is a key state and federal policy partner to us. LIXIL’s CJ Lagan co-chairs our Water Sense and Water Efficiency Products Committee, and Troy Benavidez serves on the AWE board, as well as on the board’s Policy Committee and the AWE Corporate Advisory Council. LIXIL has also donated plumbing fixtures for low-income direct installation pilot projects and has been a Gold Level Symposium sponsor in 2023 and 2024. Thank you, Team LIXIL!
- Water Supplier Member of the Year: East Bay Municipal Utility District
(Ron Burke presents the award to Geneva Gondak on behalf of EBMUD)
The East Bay Municipal Utility District is a water efficiency leader among utilities with innovative incentive programs, leak identification notification tools, and creative outreach and social media campaigns. They have supported AWE from the very beginning as a Charter Sponsor in 2008 and continue to be active stakeholders in our committees to this day.
Water Conservation Supervisor Whitney Ray is a co-chair on the AWE Research Committee and Water Conservation Supervisor Geneva Gondak participates in the AWE Education and Outreach Committee. Additionally, EBMUD has participated in multiple AWE research projects, including the ongoing Large Landscape Transformation and Irrigation study.
EBMUD’s commitment goes beyond its support for AWE by being a charter member of CalWEP. Water Conservation Manager Charles Bohlig is the chair of CalWEP’s Board, and Water Conservation Representative Jolene Bertetto is the Vice Chair of CalWEP's Program Committee. EBMUD is also funding a new CalWEP initiative on a plumber leak detection training program. Congrats, EBMUD!
Volunteer of the Year Award: Drew Blackwell
(Ron Burke presents the award to Drew Blackwell)
The Volunteer of the Year Award is given to an employee of a current organizational member who served AWE in an expanded role over the past year, such as being a board member, committee chair/co-chair/vice-chair, and volunteering in other ways.
Drew Blackwell is the Director of Water Efficiency for Cavanaugh and serves on the AWE Board of Directors and our Board Development Committee. His presence has brought so much energy to the organization. He intentionally engages with staff and shares opportunities for us to participate in state water loss regulatory proposals by submitting formal comments. He consistently finds ways to leverage his expertise on behalf of the organization, including the identification of grant opportunities for AWE. Additionally, Drew has advocated for and secured Cavanaugh’s sponsorship of the Symposium for two years running and consistently shares our work on social media. We appreciate how Drew champions AWE and our mission as a board member, as well as through his job leading Water Efficiency for Cavanaugh. Thank you, Drew, for your support!
Outgoing AWE Board Member
During the Awards Ceremony, we also took a minute to honor one of our longtime board members, Jennifer Walker, for her nine years of dedicated service to our Board of Directors. Jennifer has been on the board since 2016 and the board secretary since 2020.
She has supported AWE in so many ways, through her job as Director of the Texas Coast and Water Program at the National Wildlife Federation and as a board member, where she has helped recruit new members to AWE, connected staff with key stakeholders in Texas, and provided insightful policy and management advice. Jennifer, we cannot thank you enough.
