Rural Water Award Winners
Clark Cronquist Waterline Award: Given to someone who through their distinctive leadership and perseverance has gone above and beyond the call of duty in the promotion, development, or enhancement of rural water on a state or national level. This is our most prestigious award.
| 1979 | Eileen Benzinger | 1999 | Rodger Berntson |
| 1980 | Clark Cronquist | 2000 | Kermit Ueland |
| 1981 | Dick Fiala | 2001 | K.B. Finneseth |
| 1982 | Neil Modin | 2002 | LaVonne Althoff |
| 1983 | Vern Kaldor | 2003 | Warren Jameson |
| 1984 | Doran Miller | 2004 | Dave Koland |
| 1985 | Fay Waxler | 2005 | Patrick Denne |
| 1986 | Jerome Olson | 2006 | Don Flynn |
| 1987 | Dr. Stanley Brumleve | 2007 | Congressman Earl Pomeroy |
| 1988 | Alfred Thompson | 2008 | Douglas Neibauer |
| 1989 | W. Ross Brown | 2009 | LeRoy Johnson |
| 1990 | Vernon Anderson | 2010 | Senator Byron Dorgan |
| 1991 | Vic Ertmann | 2011 | Jack Long |
| 1992 | Dave Sandell | 2012 | No Award |
| 1993 | Gordon Johnson | 2013 | Bill Link |
| 1994 | Neal McClure | 2014 | Joe LaFave |
| 1995 | Lloyd Sondreal | 2015 | Jack Hancock |
| 1996 | Roger Stallman | 2016 | Cal Thelen/Ray Bieber |
| 1997 | Richard Herrmann | 2017 | Dave Lang |
| 1998 | Francis "Fritz" Schwindt | 2018 | Keith Nilson |
Friend of Rural Water Award: Given to someone who provides outstanding service and exceptional contributions to further the goals of rural water in North Dakota.
| 1988 | Erv Rolfstad & Hank Trangsrud | 2003 | Steve Burian |
| 1989 | Lee Nerdahl & Glen Kellerman | 2004 | Rick Wanner |
| 1990 | Gene Lilly & Carl Sandager | 2005 | Tex Hall |
| 1991 | Northern Water Works & Fargo Water | 2006 | Jerome Jungling |
| 1992 | Senator Orlin Hanson & Vern Hedland | 2007 | Cal Thelen |
| 1993 | Glennis Sanden & Jerald Engelman | 2008 | Galen Satrom |
| 1994 | Gary Warner & Burleigh Water Users | 2009 | Joe Bichler |
| 1995 | Alfred Underdahl & Karl Limvere | 2010 | Bob Shelstad |
| 1996 | Ray Scheetz & Jack Hancock | 2011 | Bob Keller |
| 1997 | Vernon Johnson | 2012 | No Award |
| 1998 | Austin Gillette & Gene Davison | 2013 | Jim Lennington |
| 1999 | Ray Mount & Gene Hagen | 2014 | Jerry Blomeke |
| 2000 | Maurice Johnson | 2015 | Larry Amundson & Rod Beck |
| 2001 | Earl Magnuson | 2016 | Neil Breidenbach |
| 2002 | Tillie Walker | 2017 | Lyle Gravseth |
Outstanding Water Works Employee: Given to a water operator or rural water system manager with outstanding leadership abilities and extraordinary accomplishments in water operations beyond the normal requirements of their job.
| 1993 | Larry Amundson & LaRay Ries | 2006 | Mike Blessum |
| 1994 | Gary Grindberg & Roger Nelson | 2007 | Ralph Packulak & George Azure |
| 1995 | Joel Heitkamp & Bill Link | 2008 | Gary Schultz & John McDonald |
| 1996 | Randy Loeslie & Bill Sager | 2009 | Perry Kapaun |
| 1997 | Doug Neibauer & Edward Braunagel | 2010 | Ross Carter |
| 1998 | Chris Helgeson & Dan Schaefer | 2011 | Mary Massad |
| 1999 | "Frenchie" Leintz | 2012 | Steve Hansen |
| 2000 | Mike Kemnitz & George Motl | 2013 | Gordon Johnson |
| 2001 | Barry Schulz | 2014 | Randy Thompson & Guy Mischel |
| 2002 | Neil Breidenbach | 2015 | Nels Halgren |
| 2003 | Ray Christensen | 2016 | Geneva Kaiser |
| 2004 | Alvin Carlson | 2017 | Dan Roller |
| 2005 | Lee Messer | 2018 | Gus Cronquist |
Outstanding Office Employee: This award is given to those unsung heroes working quietly in the background; office managers, secretaries, clerks, city auditors, whatever their title may be – they are the backbone of every organization and we want to recognize those that have gone that extra mile in promoting water issues to their boards, councils, management, and communities.
| 2009 | Shirley Albrecht | 2014 | Brad Hejtmanek |
| 2010 | Kathryn "Pat" McCollum | 2015 | Connie Halldorson |
| 2011 | Sandy Nelson | 2016 | Janice Elshaug |
| 2012 | Shari Hagen | 2017 | Sally Herda |
| 2013 | Linda Aubol | 2018 | Deb Foertsch |
Water Taste Contest Winner:
| 1993 | City of Sherwood | 2006 | Cass Rural Water Users District |
| 1994 | North Valley Water District | 2007 | Valley City Public Works |
| 1995 | North Valley Water District | 2008 | City of Noonan |
| 1996 | Southeast Water Users District | 2009 | South Central Regional Water District |
| 1997 | Ramsey County Rural Utilities | 2009 | Valley City Public Works (Best of the Best) |
| 1998 | Ramsey County Rural Utilities | 2010 | South Central Regional Water District |
| 1999 | Tri-County Water District | 2011 | City of Garrison |
| 2000 | North Valley Water District | 2012 | South Central Regional Water District |
| 2001 | City of Cooperstown | 2013 | State Line Water Cooperative |
| 2002 | Grand Forks-Traill Water District | 2014 | City of Wahpeton |
| 2003 | Grand Forks-Traill Water District | 2015 | Southwest Water Authority |
| 2004 | Southeast Water Users District | 2016 | City of Steele |
| 2005 | Cass Rural Water Users District | 2017 | Southeast Water Users District |
| 2018 | Northeast Regional Water Distirct |
