Western Honored For Outstanding Communications Programs

At three separate awards ceremonies, Western Municipal Water District (Western) received state, national and international recognition for excellence in communications from prominent organizations for its 2021 rate adjustment community engagement efforts.

This year, Western received an Award of Excellence for the 2021 Rate Adjustment Outreach Campaign and a Silver Circle Award for the "Dirty Jobs" wastewater video from the City-County Communications & Marketing Association (3CMA). Since 1988, 3CMA’s Savvy, Silver Circle, and Awards of Excellence Awards have represented the organization's highest recognition for government and communications efforts that help governments engage and build stronger relationships with their residents.

Western is also proud to have received state recognition from the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO) and international recognition from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP) for the same campaign. CAPIO's EPIC Awards program recognizes the state's most innovative and effective communications. AMCP’s MarCom award has evolved into one of the largest and most-respected creative competitions in the world, representing entries from dozens of countries, honoring excellence in marketing and communications.

"Together, these awards reflect Western's commitment to our community and the organization's strategic priorities of cultivating and highlighting an elite workforce, delivering superior service at every turn, providing a sustainable financial future for Western, and ensuring a reliable and resilient resource portfolio," said Western General Manager Craig Miller. "Western's highly skilled workforce delivers value for our customers every day, and we are honored to be recognized for these collaborative outreach programs."

The 2021 Rate Adjustment Outreach Campaign demonstrates Western's commitment to service excellence, public trust and transparency. By using multiple communication channels, this customer-focused outreach program enhanced engagement about the long-term financial sustainability of the region’s water system as it responds to prolonged droughts. By prioritizing direct customer interactions through a variety of ways, this effective partnership allowed customers to learn more about changing water sources, customer water usage and how Western works to ensure the reliability of their water delivery systems.

Western is also proud of the award-winning "Dirty Jobs" style video highlighting Western's wastewater treatment crew. By delivering this important digital educational tool using in-house resources, the video helped customers better understand the value of wastewater treatment and the skill it takes to keep systems flowing by highlighting Western's elite workforce in a new and exciting way - allowing educational efforts to continue during the pandemic. Debuting with a local high school class, this video generated excitement and interest in how Western transforms wastewater into recycled water used for irrigation or to help sustain the Santa Ana River environment.

Western's Assistant General Manager Sarah Macdonald shared that "as water agencies across California continue to diligently serve our customers during the state's ongoing drought, creative and forward-thinking outreach campaigns like these will help build community trust and reveal future career opportunities for the next generation of water leaders. We are thrilled to receive this recognition from these distinguished organizations."

About Western Municipal Water District
Western Municipal Water District is one of the largest public agencies in Riverside County, providing water and wastewater (sewer) services to nearly a million people, both retail and wholesale customers who live, work, and play within 527-square miles in one of California's most populous regions. For more information, visit wmwd.com.