AMSA Member Update (MU04-20)

Action Please By:
January 5, 2005

AMSA’s Board of Directors recently voted to refocus our ongoing outreach regarding a name change from the American Clean Water Council to the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, as the preferred potential new name for the Association. This Member Update is intended to bring you up-to-date on this development, and solicit your input as we gather membership comment regarding the proposal to change AMSA’s name.

Since the Board of Director’s adoption of AMSA’s new Strategic Plan on September 21, numerous efforts have been underway to share the Plan – and its key tenets – with AMSA’s membership. Member Updates 04-16 and 04-17, featured key components of the Plan and provided a link to the complete document for interested members. FaxAlert and Clean Water News articles have complemented these outreach efforts. Member Update 04-16 also presented the concept of a name change, and the Board-endorsed proposed name – the American Clean Water Council, for consideration. In addition to soliciting member input on both the Strategic Plan and the name change – the National Office has placed personal telephone calls to many Member Agencies, Public and Private Affiliates, and committee leaders to facilitate their ability to comment and our ability to address any concerns.

The comments received regarding the proposal of the American Clean Water Council have been diverse – with some members expressing support for the name – and others having issues with a single word in the name or the acronym. Many concerns focused on the use of the word “council”. Based upon these member comments, the National Office identified potential alternative options, as follows:

Clean Water Association of America (CWAA);
Clean Water Agencies of America (CWAA);
American Association of Clean Water Agencies (AACWA); and,
National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA).

Continuing outreach (which has included Internet searches, contact with similarly-named associations, and ongoing member comment) provided additional information and has resulted in the following findings:

• Association members generally support, and are excited about, the concept of a name change.

• Association members widely support the replacement of the word “sewerage” with “clean water”.

• Numerous members have expressed the desire to retain the word “agencies” in the association name.

• Numerous members have expressed the desire for an acronym that can be pronounced.

• Internet searches have identified potential problems with regard to the two proposed alternatives that result in the “CWAA” acronym – as they are widely associated with Clean Water Action, and related state chapters known as the Clean Water Action Alliance (Clean Water Action is an environmental activist group that describes itself as “a national citizens' organization working for clean, safe and affordable water, prevention of health-threatening pollution, creation of environmentally-safe jobs and businesses, and empowerment of people to make democracy work”.)

• Contact with the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) has confirmed their leadership’s strong objection to any name that would result in an acronym identical to theirs.

Based upon this information, the proposed alternative name – National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) – was deemed to warrant serious consideration and has been endorsed by the Board for member consideration based upon the following attributes:

• National Association of Clean Water Agencies contains the terms identified as desirable by the membership (i.e. “clean water” and “agencies”) and replaces the word “council” with “association”.

• The resulting acronym (NACWA) can be pronounced, but is not identical to ACWA (in acronym or pronunciation). It also has the benefit of lining up with at least one state-level ‘AMSA’, the Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies (ORACWA).

• Internet searches have confirmed that there is no similarly named group, business or organization (within or outside of the water sector). Additionally, the URLs for www.nacwa.org, www.nacwa.net, and www.nacwa.com are not held by any other entity and have been reserved so as to be available to the Association should the membership endorse this name.

The Board of Directors has instructed the National Office staff to refocus its ongoing outreach and directly solicit member comment regarding the National Association of Clean Water Agencies as the preferred potential new name for AMSA. With this Update, we request your comments regarding the proposed name change. Please direct your comments to AMSA’s Deputy Executive Director, Paula Dannenfeldt, by either telephone (202/833-4654) or e-mail (pdannenfeldt@amsa-cleanwater.org) by COB on Wednesday, January 5, 2005.

Should the membership support the National Association of Clean Water Agencies as the new name for the Association, the change will be included in a series of amendments to AMSA’s Bylaws. Following endorsement by the Board of Directors, these Bylaws amendments will be forwarded to AMSA members in mid-January and will come before the membership for a vote at an Association Business Meeting scheduled for February 3, 2005, during the 2005 Winter Conference, Sustainable Systems. Members who do not plan to attend the conference are encouraged to vote by proxy. Information regarding proxy voting will be included with the proposed Bylaws amendments when they are forwarded to the membership.

Thank you, in advance, for your review and comment by January 5, 2005. Happy holidays!