CASQA Announces Winners of Outstanding Storm Water Projects Awards

The California Stormwater Quality Assn. (CASQA) will present five awards at its sixth annual Stormwater Conference awards luncheon Nov. 2 at the Westin Mission Hills Hotel in Rancho Mirage, Calif. CASQA’s annual conference is held each year for experts in the storm water field and always includes an awards program. The CASQA awards program identifies and recognizes creative approaches, outstanding projects, best practices and exemplary accomplishments in the field of storm water quality management. Southern California is the big winner this year, with each project representing a city in that region.

“This year’s awards committee evaluated how creative and innovative organizations could be as they addressed storm water and environmental challenges in their communities. These particular projects embody both best practices and creative concepts in storm water management. We recognize their success, innovation and dedication to the improvement of storm water quality in California,” said Jill Bicknell, awards committee chair.

This year’s five award recipients received recognition for excellence in four categories:

The Outstanding Sustainable Stormwater Project or Program award will be presented to the Cucamonga Valley Water District for its Frontier Project, which constructed a large new campus building to create more city office and meeting space and an area open to the public that will be used to educate customers and the public on environmental sustainability, especially for water.

The Outstanding Stormwater News, Information, Outreach and Media award will be presented to the city of Los Angeles for its Stormwater Public Education program, which maintained its public education efforts despite financial calamity through e-newsletters, a program blog, a Facebook page and an interactive website to engage in dialogue with constituents and establish a presence in the community.

The Outstanding Stormwater BMP Implementation Project award will be presented to the Los Angeles & San Gabriel River Valley Rivers Watershed Council for its Elmer Avenue Retrofit Demonstration project. This project used local products and equipment to improve the treatment process of water in the area, reducing pollution, improving conservation and increasing community awareness of watershed and storm water issues.

A second Outstanding Stormwater BMP Implementation Project award will be presented to Disneyland Resort for its master water quality management plan, which included state-of-the-art upgrades to the Anaheim-based resort to improve water quality, reduce storm water discharge and ensure the overall sustainability of the resort in regards to storm water management.

An Honorable Mention will be presented to the city of Santa Monica for its Bicknell Avenue project, a storm water infiltration project that reduces storm water discharge.

CASQA awards can be given to both public and private projects and individuals from public agencies and private businesses. A CASQA member must nominate award candidates, and candidates are evaluated on demonstrated excellence, ingenuity, creativity, professionalism and documented results. Awards may be made at local, regional and statewide levels.

Source: California Stormwater Quality Assn.