Deadline: 31-May-23
Nominations are now open for the US Water Prize to celebrate outstanding achievements in the advancement of sustainable, integrated, and inclusive solutions to the nation’s water challenges.
It is the preeminent national recognition program for exemplary efforts to secure a One Water future for all.
Winners of the US Water Prize 2023 will be announced and recognized during the Alliance’s One Water Summit, held November 14-16 in Tucson, AZ.
Categories
- Organizational Awards: These awards are dedicated to celebrating organizations leading the way with creative One Water solutions and driving a paradigm shift in how they view, value, and manage water in the United States. Those eligible for nomination include water utilities, businesses, agricultural organizations, environmental organizations, community-based organizations, research institutions, and others.
- Outstanding Cross-Sector Partnership
- Outstanding Public Sector Organization
- Outstanding Private Sector Organization
- Outstanding Nonprofit Organization
- Individual Awards: Awarded on an annual basis, the US Water Prize celebrates outstanding achievement in the advancement of sustainable, integrated, and inclusive solutions to their nation’s water challenges. It is the preeminent national recognition program for exemplary efforts to secure a One Water future for all.
- Outstanding One Water Communication Award
- Outstanding Rising One Water Leader Award
- Outstanding Artist Award
- Outstanding Public Official Award
Selection Criteria
Organizational Awards: The US Water Alliance strives to ensure each class of winners is diverse, considering geography, sector, and size. US Water Prize applications in the Public Sector category will be reviewed based on the following criteria:
- Integration: Works in an integrated manner across sectors and disciplines. Focuses on achieving multiple benefits—economic, social, environmental—through water management. Demonstrates progress in moving towards watershed scale approaches.
- Partnership Focus: Demonstrates collaboration across sectors and between stakeholders to advance sustainable solutions.
- Innovation: Involves technologies, management practices, creative thinking, regulatory strategies, and/or financing strategies that are changing the water paradigm.
- Education: Provides motivation and insight to help people view, value, and manage water more holistically and sustainably. The educational component can be informal or formal.
- Results: Exhibits clear, measurable impact that is leading to a more sustainable approach to water resource management in America.
Individual Awards
- Outstanding One Water Communication: Individuals eligible to be nominated include journalists and producers from mainstream media outlets and publications, authors, podcast hosts, and other communicators who focus on water issues. Self-nominations are encouraged and teams of communicators who collaborated on their work can be nominated together. The Alliance will consider work from previous years if it influenced water issues, such as legislation, or communicated important water topics to a broad audience. Past winners have raised awareness about under-reported water access challenges, climate change, and water affordability.
- Outstanding Rising One Water Leader: Early to Mid-career professionals (around 5-10 years of water sector experience) employed at any US Water Alliance member organization are eligible to be nominated (self-nominations are encouraged). Nominations will be asked to describe how the professional is a rising leader and demonstrates one or more of the six essential capacities for One Water change leadership: vision-setting, shaping culture, possibility thinking, innovation, trust-building and collaboration, and adaptive learning.
- Outstanding Artist: Individual artists or culture bearers working in any media are eligible to be nominated (self-nominations are encouraged). Artist collectives or groups are also eligible to be nominated. Organizations are not eligible for nomination, but individual teams belonging to the same organization working on specific, relevant work can be nominated. Nominations should describe how they align their work with social and public need in a way that advances an equitable and sustainable water future.
- Outstanding Public Official: Individuals eligible to be nominated include public officials at every level of government, including mayors, city managers, city council members, governors, state legislators, representatives of tribal governments, members of Congress, and more. While utility employees are essential to advancing One Water, this award is focused on public officials who have championed solutions while not working for a water agency. Utilities are encouraged to apply through the organizational award categories.
For more information, visit US Water Prize.
