The National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) is pleased to announce Katherine (Katie) Jamriska of Indiana American Water has been selected as the grand prize winner of the 2017 NAWC Living Water Awards. The announcement was made today during the 2017 NAWC Water Summit being held in Seattle, Washington.
The Living Water Awards program, established in 2012, celebrates exemplary private water industry professionals who are “living water” through their commitment to quality service. This year, all nominees submitted were from states across the American Water service territory. Jamriska is the fifth recipient of this prestigious honor, earned for continuously looking for ways to better serve Indiana American Water’s customers, protect source water, and improve water quality.
Jamriska currently serves as Supervisor of Water Quality and Environmental Compliance for Indiana American Water. In her role, she is responsible for ensuring that five district operations, serving nearly 200,000 customers, are continually in compliance with all local, state and federal drinking water regulations.
“Katie’s dedication to better serving her community, coupled with her passion to protecting our nation’s most precious resource, is exactly the type of candidate our Living Water Awards seek to acknowledge. I congratulate both Katie and Indiana American Water for the tremendous work they do in the communities they serve,” said Michael Deane, executive director of the NAWC. “Katie’s efforts will continue to provide benefit to water utilities and their customers, the industry as a whole, and the natural environment.”
Demonstrating her commitment to source water protection, Jamriska lobbied against two projects posing a risk to two drinking water wellfields within Johnson County, Indiana. Additionally, she has developed a source sampling risk assessment tool designed to determine vulnerability and overall risk to sources, as well as aid water utilities in prioritizing their sampling efforts based upon the level of risks identified. Jamriska successfully implemented the use of this tool at Indiana American Water.
Christina Gosnell, Manager of Water Quality and Environmental Compliance for Indiana American Water, added, “Katie is an exemplary employee who provides great insight when issues arise and is willing to share her vast knowledge with others. Katie takes her roles as a steward of the world’s most precious resource very seriously and truly cares about producing the very best water possible for our customers.”