By Elizabeth Cutright
Tradition and innovation. Those are the two words that perhaps best describe the typical Water Efficiency reader: someone willing to reach into the past for time-tested solutions while keeping an eye on the possibilities waiting just over the horizon. And because so many of you took the time to answer our recent reader survey, we now have an even better understanding of exactly what you are looking for, along with valuable information about how we can best fulfill your needs and expectations.
So what did you tell us? For starters, more than half of you have opted to receive both the digital and print editions of Water Efficiency, and two thirds of you log on to waterefficiency.net on a regular basis. Additionally, a majority of you pick up our publication in order to learn more about emerging water resource management technologies, including AMR/AMI, data management, intelligent irrigation, and water reuse and reclamation. Also, most of you have already experienced the power of advanced information technologies—a whopping 58% of our readers already use GIS systems as part of their regular resource management plan.
Along with this ability to embrace the future comes a healthy dose of experience: About 75% of our readers have logged more than 10 years in the water industry, and more than half of you have been at it for 15 years or more. Many of you are directly involved in the day-to-day responsibilities of your chosen profession, acting as program managers, planners, or directors. Those of you that don’t find yourselves on the front lines can often be found coordinating the water efficiency and conservation efforts of your organization as engineers, consultants and owners, or elected officials. And as the majority of our water infrastructure is under public control, the ranks of our readership are filled with professionals from a variety of state, federal, metropolitan, and rural water districts.
Here at Water Efficiency, we have believed that having an open dialogue with our audience provides us with an invaluable asset: the ability to review, manage, and modify our content in order to bring you the groundbreaking stories, technology updates, and latest news you’ve come to expect. After reading the results of our 2010 reader survey, I am heartened not only by all the positive comments we received from individual readers, but also by the advice and in-depth commentary many of you took the time to convey.
Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond to our survey. We value your input, and we will study and act on the overall survey results, as well as the individual comments we received, in order to make sure we can continue to provide you with the content you expect and desire. Our job is to provide you with clear, relevant, and topical information that will help you make informed decisions and effectively implement your water resource management projects and strategies.
And because you are the most important part of our team, please drop me a line when you can and let me know how we’re doing, and what stories or topics you think would be a good fit for the magazine. You can reach me at [email protected].
Elizabeth Cutright is a previous editor of Water Efficiency.
