2006 Dell Cornell Award

National Rural Water Association is pleased to announce that Clay Lutz of West Virginia Rural Water Association and Mike Hill of North Carolina Rural Water Association are  the 2006 Dell Cornell Award winners. 

This award is presented to individuals who, under difficult personal circumstances, continued to contribute to Rural Water and their association’s goals.

Clay Lutz exemplifies what rural water stands for by persevering under tremendous difficulties in order to do the job he loves.  While attended In-Service training in June, 2005 Clay thought he was going for a week of training and woke up three months later from a very serious illness.  Being hospitalized in two different states and a long way from home, Clay fought hard and long to return to his family, co-workers and the job he loves.  His loyalty and determination were obvious as he kept in touch with his co-workers on a daily basis.  He was always concerned for his training classes and the systems he worked with because he was unable to help them as he had in the past.  Clay is the wastewater training technician from West Virginia and has been with the association since 1999.   

Mike Hill has been serving North Carolina’s small and rural water systems since June 2000 as a North Carolina Rural Water Association circuit rider. When you consider the physical setbacks Mike lives with every day, the fact that he is still going attests to his determination and desire to leave a legacy of helping others.           

Through it all, Mike never complains. He has always given above and beyond his program requirements and is always there for North Carolina’s small and rural water systems. He is a living example of the commitment and determination that makes the Team Rural Water so special. 

The NRWA Awards in Excellence program was established to recognize the outstanding efforts of the Member State Affiliates, their staff, and special members of the rural water industry. 

The National Rural Water Association is a non-profit federation of State Rural Water Associations.  Its mission: to provide state associations with support services to meet the needs of their membership.  NRWA is America’s largest utility association with over 24,550 members.

Historically, NRWA’s state associations have trained over 55,000 water and wastewater system personnel each year for two decades.  They also provide over 90,000 on-site technical assistance visits a year.

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Photo (Left to Right):  Dell Cornell Award – Clay Lutz, West Virginia Rural Water Association and Mike Hill North Carolina Rural Water Association