Vern Haverstick Groundwater Hero Award

About the Vern Haversick Groundwater Hero Award
In 1995, The Groundwater Foundation developed the Groundwater Hero Award to showcase groundwater protection activities by the unsung, yet heroic, efforts of community residents. The inaugural award was presented in June at Watershed ’96 in Baltimore, Maryland, to the first recipient, Vern Haverstick of El Paso, Texas. Vern worked with the Retired Senior Volunteer Program to produce a contaminant source inventory of 138 public water supply wells. The methods and techniques developed by Vern have become national prototypes. His lifelong commitment to protecting groundwater for the citizens of El Paso County left his community a legacy of volunteer service and groundwater protection. His work so exemplifies the spirit of the Hero award that, in 1996, The Groundwater Foundation Board of Trustees voted to name the award in his honor.

Past Award Recipients
1996: Vern Haverstick, El Paso, Texas
Vern became involved in groundwater protection in 1989 by participating in the El Paso Wellhead Protection Project. Vern learned of the project through the El Paso Retired Senior Volunteer Program and took the initiative to assist in recruiting 23 citizen volunteers to conduct a potential contaminant source inventory around El Paso’s 138 public water supply wells. The methodology, techniques, and inventory forms developed by Vern and his team of volunteers to conduct comprehensive groundwater protection inventories continues to be utilized by communities throughout the nation. Vern and his team of volunteers also inventoried drinking water supplies and septic tank systems in the colonias throughout El Paso County, and he has served as a mentor for many students participating in a bi-national groundwater protection project.

1997: Bonnie Holz, St. Peter, Minnesota
As Director of the Brown-Nicollet Counties Environmental Health Department, Bonnie initiated a “first of a kind” groundwater testing program. This program determined nitrate-nitrogen levels and coliform bacteria contamination in individual wells throughout three counties. Under Bonnie’s direction, a three-county Joint Powers Board was formed to study water quality. The Joint Powers Board received grants and low-interest loans for the study and improvement of groundwater quality in Brown, Nicollet, and Cottonwood counties. This money has been utilized for septic system upgrades, abandoned well sealings, promotion and implementation of agricultural and urban Best Management Practices, water quality monitoring, and investigations of groundwater and surface water interactions.

1998: Janet Person, Bellaire, Michigan
Janet developed a program to provide direct financial incentives to landowners actively protecting groundwater. She worked with insurance companies to provide a reduction in insurance premiums to farmers who conduct Farm*A*Syst, provide for emergency preparedness, and utilize proper pesticide and fertilizer storage techniques. As part of the Northwest Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program, Janet has organized meetings for area experts to make groundwater presentations to Antrim County Farm Bureau members and given groundwater protection demonstrations at water festivals, agricultural programs, and community events. She is a trained Groundwater Stewardship Program Technician and has helped farmers conduct farm risk assessments (Farm*A*Syst) in her area. Janet also developed a brochure that was distributed to groundwater stewardship programs across Michigan, providing them with ideas on how they can promote groundwater protection in their communities.

1999: Dennis Gumbert, Worthington, Kentucky
Dennis, along with Worthington Mayor Ronald McCloud and the city council, drafted the first state-approved wellhead protection ordinance, which became the model ordinance for small systems all across Kentucky. In addition, under Dennis’ leadership, Worthington developed one of the first programs in the nation to identify wellhead protection areas and watershed protection areas through the use of large, road-side signs. The use of these signs led to a greater level of involvement in local programs, and has been emulated by communities across the state. Dennis also educates area students about the importance of protecting groundwater using the groundwater flow model and conducts tours of the water treatment facility.

2000: Frank Coss, Puerto Rico
Frank has dedicated more than 40 years of his life as a civic leader working with citizens in the Northern Region of Puerto Rico. He is the founder and president of the Steering Committee of Environmental Quality of Puerto Rico, known in Spanish as COTICAM. COTICAM is a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and conservation of the environment through education. COTICAM is composed of community volunteers, industry representatives, civic groups, religious organizations, schools, colleges, and government agencies. Frank has also developed projects for groundwater protection in cooperation with the US EPA and Environmental Quality Board of Puerto Rico.

2001: Bill Compton, Peoria, Illinois
As the Chair of the Central Regional Groundwater Protection Committee, serving the four county Peoria area, Bill has provided guidance on such issues as abandoned well policies and legislative water proposals. Under Bill’s leadership, the committee’s accomplishments include a number of “firsts” in Illinois’ groundwater protection efforts including the first groundwater model building workshop for teachers, establishing a groundwater protection needs assessment pollution prevention grant targeted to a groundwater protection area, and geologic mapping targeted to a groundwater protection area. Bill has also helped to train new committee members from throughout the state to serve on the four regional groundwater protection committees and convened the first forum for developing improved understanding and consensus among regional committee members on groundwater protection issues. Bill also serves on the Governor’s Water Resources Advisory Council and State Government Accountability Council. In both roles, he advocates integration of groundwater protection into water resource programs and strong communication and cooperation between local and state agencies.

2002: Reverend Gayl Fowler, Burgess, Virginia
In 1989, Reverend Fowler in cooperation with the Salvation Army and the Interfaith Service Council founded the SAIF Water Committee to assist rural residents in developing sources of clean drinking water and indoor plumbing while working to clean up and protect drinking water in private wells in Lancaster and Northumberland counties of Virginia. In 2002, Reverend Fowler and the SAIF Water Committee assisted a professor from Kosovo in developing a safe water program and inspired church leaders in Kenya to begin digging wells to replace the use of river water. Reverend Fowler also provides consultation on wells, alerts urban doctors to rural water conditions which may impact health problems and treatments, and assists patients investigating their well water as a potential source of illness. In addition, Reverend Fowler has testified before local and state leaders regarding the state’s buffer zone for biosolids application near wells.

2003:  William Crawford, Collierville, Tennessee
In 1988, Mr. Crawford President/CEO of Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) saw the need for a regulatory entity and lobbied local government officials to form Shelby County’s Groundwater Quality Control Board (GWQCB) and served as chairman of the GWQCB from its inception in May 1988 until December 1992. The GWQCB established regulations to protect the area’s water supply and brought together representatives from MLGW, local government, local citizens, and water experts. The GWQCB serves as a model in the State of Tennessee and Mid-South Region as an institutional method to involve stakeholders in groundwater issues. Mr. Crawford also helped develop a strategic plan for the board and led the GWQCB to establish a wellhead protection plan which requires the review of planned development in the county to ensure the safety of the water supply.In 1991, Mr. Crawford led MLGW and the University of Memphis to collaboratively establish The Groundwater Institute, a research entity of the Herff College of Engineering. Mr. Crawford also proposed the adopted funding mechanism in which each municipality provides a grant to The Groundwater Institute based on the amount of drinking water withdrawn from the aquifers. While serving on the Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee for the institute, Mr. Crawford proposed and became a chair of a group of local citizens that are in the process of establishing funding for a Chair of Excellence in Groundwater at the University of Memphis.

2004: No award given

2005: No award given

2006: Dennis Coryell, Burlington, Colorado
Dennis serves as the President of the Republican River Water Conservation District (RRWCD), a board member for the Plains Ground Water Management District and Kit Carson County Farm Bureau, and as a board member for the Colorado Ground Water Commission. Through these outlets, Dennis has promoted responsible agricultural stewardship of the Ogallala Aquifer throughout the basin’s 550,000 groundwater irrigated acres, spearheaded Colorado’s $66 million Republican River Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program and met with area producers, environmental organizations, and elected officials to gain support for the retirement and conservation of 30,000 groundwater irrigated acres. Dennis has been a primary contributor to the formulation of statewide groundwater policy and management practices that provide stewardship of Colorado’s groundwater resources.

2007: No award given