Living Water Award 2026 Nominee

Craig Patla, P.E.

President, Connecticut Water Company, part of H2O America

Craig, President of Connecticut Water Company, is nominated for his outstanding 36-year career and his groundbreaking leadership in establishing Connecticut’s innovative Water Quality and Treatment Adjustment (WQTA) regulatory framework. Facing an estimated $230 million in anticipated PFAS compliance costs across dozens of treatment projects, Craig brought together engineers, operations teams, municipal leaders and state legislators to design a proactive regulatory solution. The resulting WQTA legislation allows for annual, gradual recovery of capital investments for emerging contaminants, protecting customers from sudden rate shock while ensuring the utility can move forward rapidly with critical public health treatment projects. This successful model has set a new national benchmark for how utilities can collaboratively address urgent environmental challenges.