Organization & Governing Documents

A. Virginia Section and AWWA

The American Water Works Association, hereinafter referred to as AWWA, is made up of 43 local sections that have been organized to further the objectives of AWWA as established in the Constitution. The Virginia Section is one of these 43 sections, and like the other sections, the Virginia Section works independently, but with assistance from the full-time AWWA staff in Denver .

Article IX of the current Governing Documents of AWWA covers the procedures for Section operations. The Virginia Section has basically two sources of income. The first source is the income generated at meetings and seminars. The second source of income is the annual allotment from AWWA. Other income is derived from dividends and interest on invested funds, gifts, and other sources that may be approved by the Board of Trustees. Each Section is provided with an annual allotment from Association funds, based in part on revenues received from membership dues and municipal service subscription fees received by the Association.

The Virginia Section participates in the management of AWWA in two ways. The first and most direct is through the election of a Director. Each Section elects one or more of its eligible members to serve as a member of the AWWA Board of Directors and, as such, to participate in the management of AWWA affairs. The Section Director is elected to serve a three-year term and is not eligible to serve consecutive terms. The Director provides liaison between the AWWA Board of Directors and the Section officers and members and, as such, is responsible for keeping the Section informed regarding pertinent AWWA affairs. The second way of participating in the management of the AWWA is to nominate and support the election of Virginia Section members for an AWWA office.

The Virginia Section develops its own functional programs and projects, but like all other AWWA sections, the major portion of its activities are directed toward furthering the objectives and programs of the AWWA. The general objectives of the AWWA and thus the Virginia Section are as follows:

•  advancing the knowledge of the design, construction, operation, water treatment and management of water utilities and developing standards for procedures, equipment and materials used by public water supply systems;

•  advancing the knowledge of the problems involved in the development of resources, production and distribution of safe and adequate water supplies;

•  educating the public on the problems of water supply and promoting a spirit of cooperation and between consumers and suppliers in solving these problems; and

•  conducting research to determine the causes of problems of providing a safe and adequate water supply and proposing solutions thereto in an effort to improve the quality and quantity of the water supply provided to the public.