IA Awards Program
National Water & Energy Conservation
Established in 1982, this award honors significant achievement in the conservation of water and energy relating to irrigation procedures, equipment, methods and techniques.
2012
Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, Calif.
Led by Supervising Treatment Plant Operator
Tim Linn, the staff of the Palmdale Agricultural Site manages a 12 million
gallon-per-day capacity water treatment plant. Their work provides 100 percent
treated effluent to irrigate, under center pivot, approximately 2,000 acres of
agricultural crops. Linn and staff have
shown the best in water management by navigating regulatory restrictions, crop
rotations, nutrient loads and crop water demand to keep up with the county’s
constant supply of recycled water.
2011
USDA-ARS
Fort Collins, Colo.
The USDA-ARS Water Management Research Unit celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2011. Its scientists and engineers have contributed to dam development, flow metering, irrigation control structures, evapotranspiration, crop water use, center pivot energy management and sprinkler irrigation design and evaluation. Current research is focused on developing management practices that can help sustain irrigated agriculture in the Great Plains and throughout the western U.S. with declining water supplies. The research is developing better understanding of how crops respond to deficit irrigation and how to maximize productivity with limited water (maximize “crop per drop”).
2010
Otay Water District
Based in Spring Valley, Calif., the district has successfully implemented numerous innovative audit, rebate and education programs. Under the direction of Water Conservation Manager William Granger, the district serves more than 191,000 people in southeastern San Diego County. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense Partner since 2007, Otay has conducted more than 1,400 residential surveys, installed almost 3,200 nozzles in single-family homes, and hosted six customer workshops since 2008. Otay also has completed over 190 large landscape audits and implemented an irrigation upgrade program with almost 30 sites.
2009
City of Calgary’s Parks Department
2008
City of Palmdale, California
2006
San Antonio Water System
2005
Town of Cary, North Carolina
2004
Upper Republican Natural Resources District, Nebraska
2003
2001 Southern Alberta Water Sharing Group: Blood Tribe Agricultural Project
and
St. Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) Expanded Main Canal Advisory Committee
and
Southern Water Users Association
2002
Florida’s Water Management Districts: Northwest, South, Southwest, St. Johns River, Suwannee River
2000
Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission
1999
Water Protection Association of Central Kansas
1998
Center for Irrigation Technology
1997
Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District
1996
Walt Disney World Company, Horticulture and Environmental Initiative
1995
Idaho Power Company
1993
Idaho Department of Water Resources, Energy Division
1992
Weston Community, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
and
Arvada/IMB Partners
1991
Westlands Water District
1990
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
and
Imperial Irrigation District and the Environmental Defense Fund
1986
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Cal Poly State University
and
San Luis Obispo and California Department of Water Resources, Sacramento
1985
CH2M Hill, Portland, Oregon
and
Eastern Oregon Farming Company, Irrigon, Oregon
1984
High Plains Underground Water District, Lubbock, Texas
1983
Denver Water Department and Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado
1982
A.C. Sarsfield and Northern California Turfgrass Council
andHawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association