June 2008

One of the major Illinois Section themes for the next year will be developing and strengthening collaborative relationships within the broad wastewater and water community. This approach will include actively sharing ideas for seminars and program implementation with both the other CSWEA State Sections, as well as with neighboring WEA organizations. It certainly appears that we all face very similar issues in our respective states. We will also continue to interface with the Illinois WEA in several specific areas, including the very successful Government Affairs Seminar. For the implementation of specific programs, such as Water Is Life, we will collaborate with local environmental and community organizations, such as the Conservation Foundation.

At the Section meeting during the Annual Conference a number of key Illinois Section initiatives for the next year were reviewed. These initiatives include broader implementation of the Water Is Life is program at the local level, further development of the Illinois Section technical seminars, solicitation of new operator members with the recently enacted WEA membership category and increased participation on the various committees, including the appointment of vice-chairs.

The Water Is Life program has begun to take shape in Illinois and we now have a number of useful tools for spreading and cultivating this message at the regional and local levels. We will be actively seeking specific avenues for implementing these tools. The expanded Illinois Section Seminar Series has proven to be a success and we plan to further enhance the scope and content of these seminars over the next year. A complement to the Seminar Series will be the solicitation of new operator members through the new CSWEA membership category. This is an important wastewater constituency which we hope to expand. We also plan to expand the number of participants on each of the Section committees, which in some cases have one member (the chairperson).

Significant thanks go to Sue Baert, Shelly Cumbow and the Committee Chairs for leaving the Illinois Section in terrific shape as we begin the next year. I look forward to working with the Section Committee Chairs and the CSWEA Executive Committee to further strengthen the role of the Illinois Section in the stewardship of our water resources.