ASDWA Celebrates 40 Years!
With today, December 13, marking the Association of State Drinking Water’s (ASDWA) 40th anniversary, I wanted to take a moment to offer a historical retrospective of sorts, but also to share a drop of my water journey with ASDWA. This is a deviation from our normal “weekly update” blog post, and I hope you’ll join me on this exploration of personal growth and remembering.
While ASDWA is celebrating its 40th year, 2024 marks my 25th year with the Association. I was just 19 years old, attending American University in DC, when I walked through ASDWA’s doors…ready to change the world. I’ve, literally, grown up at ASDWA, dedicating myself to environmental and public health protection, supporting state drinking water primacy agencies in their missions to do the same. I’ve also grown to love the challenges inherent in ensuring every American, regardless of their zip code, has access to safe and affordable drinking water. In my time with the Association, I’ve had the privilege of working with an incredible cast of teammates, guiding the organization’s digital transformation, expanding member services, and playing an influential role in the effective implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Not bad for a punk rocker from NY.
Kidding aside, being a part of ASDWA’s work has been an incredibly rewarding experience, and the people throughout the sector who breathe passion into everything they do continue to inspire me to do better. As a passionate and sometimes overly-consumed-problem-solver, water has not left me wanting. Any time I might get burned out and want to run off to find shade in other pastures, drinking water brings to me some new tantalizing challenge, and I dive headfirst back into the fray – stubborn, and certain I can make a difference. My portfolio of work is a smattering of issues without clean solutions and, though we can’t always measure it neatly within a calendar year, over time, we do make a difference. And so, whether it’s supporting our members through a decades-long modernization of the Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) or the inherent challenges of addressing sector cybersecurity within the constraints of our current regulatory framework, there has always been a giant proverbial hook pulling me back to water. …and, Friends, I love it.
As I wrap things up, I want to leave you with a quote from Daryl Vigil, Co-Director, Water and Tribes Initiative, who spoke at a recent OneWater event, and what he said so perfectly captures my water journey. I share it whenever I can and hope you too find inspiration in his wisdom:
“Water is life. Water has given me a voice. Water has given me purpose.”
I’d like to express my greatest appreciation for the ASDWA Team, past and present – you are all drinking water rockstars – as well as the state drinking water program Administrators and their teams for unwavering dedication to our collective mission. To my EPA friends, our partners, collaborators, and everyone else working to keep the water safer and flowing, THANK YOU!
But, enough about ASDWA and me. This week’s celebration is really about ASDWA. So, let’s raise our refillable water bottles, Friends…
Here’s to 40 years of dedication to our members’ excellence and many more years of making a difference together! 🎉💧
Thanks, Team!
–Anthony R DeRosa
Interim Director of Operations
About ASDWA
The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) is the professional Association serving state drinking water programs. Formed in 1984 to address a growing need for state administrators to have national representation, ASDWA has become a respected voice for state primacy agents with Congress, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other professional organizations.
ASDWA’s purpose is to:
- Support states in their efforts to protect public health through the provision of safe drinking water;
- Collect and make information accessible to all state program administrators to assist them in fulfilling their duties;
- Encourage the exchange of experiences and information among state drinking water programs;
- Promote responsible and feasible drinking water program requirements at the state and Federal levels; and
- Provide advice, counsel, and expertise to organizations and entities having an interest in drinking water, including Congress, U.S. EPA, and other Federal, state, and local organizations.
ASDWA members are the drinking water program administrators in the 50 states, the five territories, the Navajo Nation, and the District of Columbia. 15 of the 50 state drinking water programs are located in state departments of health, 32 are located in state departments of the environment or natural resources, and 3 are in mixed departments of health and environment.
ASDWA’s Organizational History (1984 – 2024)
ASDWA was incorporated in the state of Delaware on December 13, 1984. According to the Association’s Constitution, “The purpose of the Association shall be to protect the public health through the assurance of high quality drinking water; to provide guidance to state drinking water programs; to encourage the interchange of experience among state drinking water programs; to promote responsible, reasonable and feasible drinking water programs at the state and Federal levels; to collect and make accessible to all state program administrators such information and data as might be of assistance to them in the proper fulfillment of their duties; and to provide advice, counsel and expertise to organizations having an interest in drinking water such as the National Governor’s Association, the American Water Works Association, Congress and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”
ASDWA’s governance is based upon a constitution developed by the interim Board of Directors that formed the Association. The ASDWA Constitution calls for the Association to be governed by a 13-member Board of Directors. ASDWA appointed an Executive Director, established offices and began operations on March 1, 1985.
The Association had its principal offices at 1911 North Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA 22209 until April 1, 1994, when the office was relocated to 1120 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 1060, Washington, DC 20036. On November 1, 1999, the office moved once again; this time to 1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 903, Washington, DC 20036. On November 4, 2006, the office moved to 1401 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1225, Arlington, VA 22209. ASDWA moved across the street to our current offices at 1300 Wilson Blvd, Suite 875, Arlington, VA on November 9, 2020.
From March 1985 through February 1992, the Association retained a management consulting firm to manage the Association’s activities on a day-to-day basis. Services provided by the management consulting firm were reviewed annually and approved through a contractual agreement. On March 1, 1992, the Association established an independent office and hired full-time staff to manage and operate the Association.
ASDWA’s Executive Directors:
Wade Miller (1984-1989) Vanessa Leiby (1989-2003) Jim Taft (2003- 2016) Alan Roberson (2017- current)
ASDWA’s History in Photos
- 40th Anniversary SLIDESHOW [click to view in browser or download]
