Member News

2007 National Drinking Water Symposium Hotel Deadline
August 29

If you are planning on attending the 2007 National Drinking Water Symposium (September 30-October 3 at the Hilton La Jolla in Torrey Pines, Calif.), please note that reservations must be made at the hotel by August 29. The rate for attendees is $205/night, and reservations can be made by calling the hotel at 858-558-1500.

The Symposium, with the theme of Rebuilding for the Future, is an event that every industry participant will want to attend. It will address many of the relevant issues critical to achieving sustainable infrastructure: integrated water resources management, industry structure and service, rate setting and full cost pricing, enhancing public awareness and regulatory best practices. Registration material is available at www.nawc.org.

United Water Promotes Iacullo to COO

United Water announced the promotion of Robert J. Iacullo to the newly created position of chief operating officer, where he will assume overall responsibility for the company’s regulated and contract services business lines. Iacullo had previously been COO of United Water’s regulated business.

“Bob Iacullo is a long-standing employee of United Water with significant experience in our company and in our industry,” said Tony Harding, chief executive officer of United Water. “I am absolutely delighted to announce this promotion from within our management team and I have every confidence that Bob will continue to contribute to United Water’s managed growth strategy.”

In his new position, Iacullo will be charged with strengthening the company’s focus on continuous performance improvements across the whole business. “This promotion recognizes the significant contributions Bob has made over many years, and it gives him an even wider influence in achieving our aggressive, yet attainable goals for the future,” Harding said.

Iacullo joined United Water in 1980 as a rate analyst and has held positions of increasing responsibility throughout his career at the company. During his tenure, the company has grown from providing water services to Bergen and Hudson counties in New Jersey and Rockland County in New York to providing water and wastewater services to 7.7 million people in 21 states.

Iacullo is president of NAWC, where he serves on the Board of Directors and the government relations committee. He has also served as past director and chairman of the association’s New Jersey chapter. Iacullo is also a commissioner of the New Jersey Water Supply Authority and a member of the Board of Directors for the New Jersey Utility Association, the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey and the Bergen County Economic Development Corporation.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Montclair State University and a master’s of business administration in finance from Farleigh Dickinson University. He and his family reside in West Caldwell, N.J.

RWE Receives All Regulatory Approvals for Divestiture of American Water Front Page

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has granted its approval for the divestiture of American Water from its parent company RWE, a German-based utility.

Donald L. Correll, president and CEO of American Water, said, "We are pleased that the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has issued its order for the approval of the change in ownership of American Water. With this decision, we now have received all the necessary state regulatory approvals. Having reached this significant milestone, we will continue to move ahead with the other required actions we must take to transition to new ownership."

The company received approval for the divestiture in 13 states including Arizona, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Aquarion Water Sponsors Environmental Program

Aquarion Water Company of Connecticut and Stamford Museum & Nature Center (SM&NC) have joined forces to bring environmental and conservation education into Fairfield County elementary schools.

The new Aquarion Water Company Watershed Program will allow nature educators from the SM&NC and water quality professionals from Aquarion to visit classrooms through the SM&NC in the Schools program.

Students will also have on-site experiences at the museum’s 118-acre property, where they will learn about watershed protection, wetland ecology and water quality. The program meets several state science standards and is developed to enhance and support the Connecticut State Core Curriculum Frameworks.

“This partnership offers wonderful educational opportunities for the students of Stamford to really understand their natural environment. I applaud Aquarion for its corporate citizenry and the Stamford Museum & Nature Center for the unique and important educational programming it provides to this community,” said Mayor Dannel P. Mallo.

“Aquarion’s support helps us build on our portfolio of nature education programs. Because our property is in the Poorhouse Brook watershed, we have an excellent, hands-on education environment in which to teach,” said Stamford Museum & Nature Center Executive Director Melissa H. Mulrooney.

“The Stamford Museum & Nature Center is one of the great treasures that makes a true environmental and educational impact within the community,” added Aquarion President and CEO Charles V. Firlotte. “For years, Aquarion has been active in educational outreach in the schools and with the Stamford Museum & Nature Center. I am proud of what we have accomplished together and look forward to this great new partnership.”

Students in grades one through five will learn what a watershed is and how everything that people do on the watershed site affects the soil, water, air, plants and animals. By exploring their own local watersheds and using a hands-on interactive model to show the sources of pollution, students can begin to connect water quality with watershed protection.

This program meets several state science standards. Each program is developed to enhance and support the Connecticut State Core Curriculum Frameworks.

During the last school year, 83 SM&NC in the Schools programs were presented to more than 2,000 students in 12 local schools in Stamford, Norwalk, Greenwich and New Canaan. Thousands of additional students visited from Fairfield and Westchester counties and New York City.

As part of the watershed program, students can also take a field trip to the 118-acre nature center to learn about stream ecology, vernal ponds or “nurseries of the forest” and the journey through a watershed.

This is not the first time Aquarion and Stamford Museum & Nature Center has teamed up. To celebrate Earth Day last year, Aquarion employees helped build a universally accessible “Wheels in the Woods” nature trail at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center.

American Water Funds 2007 Environmental Grant Programs

American Water announced recipients of the company's 2007 Environmental Grant Program awards. A total of 20 projects will be supported by grants totaling more than $100,000.

The recipients are located throughout American Water's service area:

• Dry Creek Conservancy Signage Project (Calif.) was awarded $7,505 for its project to place signs at 33 stream crossings along the Dry Creek Watershed within the city of Roseville in the hope of inspiring citizens to take a more active role in protecting creeks in wildlife habitat areas.
• South Fork American River Cleanup (Calif.) will use its $5,000 in grant money to fund the collection of litter and hazardous waste from the banks, trails and waterways in the South Fork American River Watershed, along with education about the importance of watershed protection and the dangers of water pollution.
• The city of Davenport's Parks and Recreation Department (Iowa) received $4,000 for a Sustainable Green Gardens Project to build a public green roof and rain garden for community education about sustainable environmental practices.
• The city of Ogden Dunes' Environmental Advisory Board (Ind.) received a grant for $10,000 for restoration of the Long Lake Marsh Watershed, considered a "swale" wetland.
• Shelby County Soil and Water Conservation District (Ind.) will use its $6,000 award to place monitoring devices in the Little Blue River as part of a watershed protection project to provide continuous monitoring of temperature, pH, specific conductivity and oxygen levels.
• Friends of the Arboretum - Kentucky Children's Garden (Ky.) received $10,000 to develop an erosion demonstration area and water quality wetland features within the "Land Stewardship Circle" of the Kentucky Children's Garden at the arboretum, Kentucky's official botanical garden.
• Friends of Wolf Run - Wolf Run Creek (Ky.) will use its $5,000 to work with community organizations to identify and reduce sources of bacteria in Wolf Run Creek and coordinate community education about the group's efforts.
• University of Kentucky/Central Bluegrass Watershed Summit (Ky.) received a grant of $3,225 for a facilitated watershed summit to connect successful watershed councils with individuals interested in establishing a local watershed monitoring group. The summit will also focus on the science, politics, logistics, finances and future issues of watershed management.
• The Open Space Council for the St. Louis Region (Mo.) was awarded $5,000 for the Operation Wild Lands project, which assists community-based volunteer stewards in proactively managing open public spaces to improve water quality, wildlife habitat and nature-related recreation.
• Berks County Conservation District (Pa.) received a $10,000 grant that will be used toward creating a Stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) Interpretive Trail, which will showcase traditional and innovative stormwater BMPs and demonstrate successful infiltration, reduction of peak volume, quality of stormwater reduction and elimination of stormwater run-off.
• Clean Up Our American Lands and Streams (COALS) Program (Pa.) was awarded $9,000 to address illegal dumping. The grant will help fund four to eight cleanups in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties this fall.
• Hallstead Park/Bank Stabilization Project (Pa.) received a $2,240 grant that will be used to create a creek bank buffer of native wildflowers and plants, plus mature trees and shrubs, along the bank and onto the property of Hallstead Park, which is being restored after a June 2006 flood.
• South Park Township (Pa.) was awarded $375 to help supply tools to Piney Fork Creek and Peters Creek during the township's biannual cleanups of community creek beds and banks.
• Western Pennsylvania Conservancy will use its $10,000 grant to support the Riparian Restoration and Protection Initiative. The project will construct four miles of stream bank fencing and build four stabilized stream crossings in the Neshannock Creek and Big Run watersheds. Both projects are designed to improve drinking water by preventing livestock access to streams and bank areas.
• The Tennessee Aquarium was awarded an environmental grant of $10,000 to support the Auditorium Education Programs. These programs include a 185-seat facility to educate young students on the world's many ecosystems, various aspects of conservation and protection of their drinking water sources. All programs are aligned to local, state and federal science standards and serve as excellent tools to enrich their curriculum.
• Friends of Lower Appomattox River (Va.) was awarded $2,500 to support the development of infrastructure and walking trails along the river and a regional education center in Prince George County.
• Friends of the Occoquan (Va.) received $5,000 to support its preservation and maintenance efforts along the Occoquan River and other Virginia watersheds.
• Hopewell Foundation, Inc. (Va.) was awarded $2,500 for a landscaping project that will reduce sediment and erosion at the historic Weston Manor property.
• Prince William County Watershed Management Branch (Va.) received $3,000 to fund plantings for a demonstration rain garden, as well as an accompanying educational brochure to describe its functions and benefits.
• The city of Alexandria (Va.) was awarded a $5,000 grant to assist with its annual Earth Day Celebration. The grant helped fund the annual event, which featured exhibitors and entertainment that focused on the importance of environmental citizenship.
• Fayette County Education Fund (W.Va.) received $8,500 for a pilot program designed for 126 fifth-grade students to address the gap in citizenry knowledge of their counties’ water and wastewater resources and infrastructure.

American Water launched its first Environmental Grant Program in January of 2005, with a pilot project in Pennsylvania resulting in three grant awards. Due to its overwhelming success, American Water expanded the program to 20 states in which the company owns water and wastewater utilities. Applicants were asked to address a source water protection need in the local community or a project that improves restores or protects one or more watersheds.