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 |