The winners of the Australian Water Association's Tasmanian Water Awards have been announced at the Awards Breakfast on Thursday, 26 November which was held simultaneously in Hobart and Launceston as well as online.
The Tasmanian Water Awards recognise the contribution of the Association's members for their inspiring leadership and innovative research, programs and infrastructure projects.
“The Association has been running the Water Awards Program for over 20 years to recognise the work our members do for their communities and the industry,” Australian Water Association Chief Executive, Corinne Cheeseman said.
“In the face of climate change, a global pandemic and economic recession, the water industry has risen to the challenge and shown resilience and innovation.
“The finalists and winners of the Tasmanian Water Awards are testament to the outstanding work that our members are doing to provide essential services to the community, and I would like to congratulate them all for their dedication and hard work.”
This year's winners will go on to represent Tasmania in the national Australian Water Awards, which will be presented at the Association’s annual water conference and exhibition, Ozwater’21 in Adelaide on 4-6 May 2021.
Winners:
Young Water Professional of the Year Award (Gary Ingram Memorial Award) (sponsored by Stornoway)
Adela Parnell, Asset Management Systems Lead, TasWater
Adela has been working with TasWater since 2014 where she is a representative on the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) steering group for the Asset Management Customer Value 2020 project. She is an advocate for more women in STEM, as well as more diversity and inclusion across the industry. Adela has chaired the Young Engineers Australia state and national committees with Engineers Australia, and more recently is actively involved with the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia. In 2019, Adela received a scholarship to participate in the Peter Cullen Trust (PCT) Women in Water Leadership Program and the Rotary Youth Leadership Program.
Water Professional of the Year Award (sponsored by Pinion Advisory)
Stephen Westgate, Senior Water Quality Scientist, TasWater
Stephen’s work is focused around improving community literacy of water and enhancing the standard of quality our industry provides. His work has led TasWater’s advancement in novel technologies for water quality including improvements to enhance water quality visibility, operating an underwater ROV fleet for reservoir inspections, and leading the development of a new water quality risk methodology. Steve actively takes on leadership and mentoring roles for young water professionals and is also an advocate for diversity and inclusion.
Regional Infrastructure Project Innovation Award (sponsored by SMEC)
Trevallyn Downstream Bypass – Hydro Tasmania
Hydro Tasmania’s project is helping protect the short-finned eel by enabling downstream migration of this remarkable species as it travels from kanamaluka / Tamar Estuary to spawn in the Coral Sea. This project is an example of rigorous science informing sound engineering to aid conservation. Project collaborators included Saunders and Ward, Bridgepro, Entura, Pacific North West National Laboratory and Aquacustics Incorporated Alaska.
The Association wishes to congratulate all the award finalists and winners and thank our generous sponsors for their support of these important industry awards.
