Eastern Municipal honored for recycled water outreach program

Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) received national recognition for its recycled water outreach and education program when it was presented with the Award of Excellence from the WateReuse Association.

This marks the third consecutive year that EMWD has received a national Award of Excellence from WateReuse, a professional organization which advocates for the advancing of laws, policies and funding to increase the use of recycled water.

The award was presented at the 2024 WateReuse Symposium in Denver.

EMWD was recognized for its diverse and industry-leading initiatives to educate legislators, customers, and school-aged children about the benefits that recycled water provides to a community. Those outreach programs include:

• Briefings with elected officials to advocate for the advancement of funding opportunities and sound policy decisions that further expand the use of recycled water;
• Incorporating information about recycled water into EMWD’s classroom education programs so its future customers have a more comprehensive understanding of the use and benefits of recycled water; and
• Programs designed to educate the public about recycled water use, including community signage and information available in its newsletters and other public-facing materials.

EMWD is one of the nation’s premier recycled water providers. Each year, recycled water accounts for more than one-third of EMWD’s water supply portfolio, helping meet the irrigation needs of agriculture, parks, schools, and public area landscaping.

EMWD was previously honored by WateReuse with its Transformational Innovation Award of Excellence in 2022 and with the Excellence in Action award in 2023 for its recycled water retrofit of The Lakes at Hemet West.

“EMWD is incredibly proud of our efforts in engaging the community so that we have widespread support for the use of recycled water,” EMWD Board President Phil Paule said. “We thank the WateReuse Association for this honor recognizing the work EMWD has performed to further public awareness of the benefits of recycled water.”