Water Well Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/465664
Groundwater Awareness Week Boasts Educational Tools The 17th National Groundwater Awareness Week is March 8-14, and there is still time for you to promote it and your business by using some of the informational tools NGWA provides. For those who already are making plans to promote Groundwater Awareness Week, let NGWA know so your company can be listed on the Groundwater Awareness Week webpage as a promotional partner. Contact NGWA Public Awareness Director Cliff Treyens at ctreyens@ngwa.org or call (800) 551-7379, ext. 554. Access Groundwater Awareness Week promotional tools by visiting NGWA's website at www.NGWA.org by clicking on "Awareness Week" under the Events/Education tab. Some of these promotional tools can be used as is; others can be adapted, modified, or customized to your state or a locale. Feel free to link to any of them. Last year, nearly 600 mostly non-groundwater industry websites promoted Groundwater Awareness Week. With your help, NGWA hopes to push the number to more than 1000. NGWA Leads Study of Private Well Owner Outreach for CDC NGWA is leading an effort to study the effectiveness of public awareness outreach to private water well owners for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The goal is to better understand the elements of public outreach that are effective in motivating well owners to act in ways that protect their water quality and health. Under a $78,358 CDC grant, NGWA's project has two major parts: 1. An extensive literature search and analysis by The Ohio State University College of Public Health (OSU) to distill what published literature reveals about effective outreach to water well owners 2. Interviews by NGWA and the Water Quality Association (WQA) with managers of well owner outreach programs to learn from their perspectives and experiences. "Private well owners are a widely dispersed group of peo- ple who reach into mostly rural areas of every state," says Cliff Treyens, NGWA public awareness director. "Historically, the challenge has been not only to reach them but to do so with information and messages that move them to act in ways that protect their water quality and health." OSU is in the process of doing its literature search and analysis now. The interviews by NGWA and WQA are expected to take place in the spring. "While there are many organizations involved in trying to educate people who own water wells for their drinking water supply, motivating them to stay on top of their water quality remains a difficult task," Treyens says. "Our goal for this proj- ect is to gain greater insight into how to help well owners." NGWA Directors, Officers Set for 2015 NGWA's 2015 national and divisional boards feature a number of new officers and directors. Heading the national board is Richard Thron, MGWC, of Mantyla Well Drilling Inc., in Lakeland, Minnesota. An NGWA member for 30 years, Thron has served on the boards of both NGWA and the Minnesota Water Well Association. He also has served on numerous committees for both associations, representing the industry to the state and federal governments. Thron is known as a tireless advocate for groundwater and the groundwater professions, who takes pride in what the groundwater industry provides. "I get to provide the second most important thing for sur- vival to my customers," he said. "People don't often realize how lucky they are to have clean, clear water they can trust." Thron started working at Mantyla Well Drilling, his father's business, after completing a four-year stint in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. Other new officers for NGWA's national board are: • President-Elect Jeffrey W. Williams, MGWC, Spafford & Sons Water Wells, Jericho, Vermont • Secretary David Henrich, CWD/PI, CVCLD, Bergerson-Caswell Inc., Maple Plain, Minnesota • Treasurer Ronnie Hensley, Gicon Pumps and Equipment Ltd., Abernathy, Texas • Vice President of the Scientists and Engineers Division Robert P. Schreiber, PE, BCEE, C.WRE, CDM Smith Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts The LOG NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL GROUND WATER ASSOCIATION waterwelljournal.com 14 March 2015 WWJ