MONTEREY, Calif., May 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) today presented its 2025 Excellence in Water Leadership Award to Wes Monier, recently retired Chief Hydrologist for Turlock Irrigation District (TID), for his commitment to water resource issues, especially in utilizing advanced technologies in water management practices.

Monier’s focus on partnerships with public, private and educational institutions gave TID access to technologies that have allowed the district to adapt to greater variability by optimizing the operations of its facilities. For example, TID utilizes data garnered through the Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO) program to remove uncertainty and conjecture regarding how fast snow is melting and when and how much runoff enters reservoirs. Because of Monier’s resourcefulness, TID was the first irrigation district to utilize the data. Monier also began incorporating Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) technology into TID’s water operations. Combining ASO and FIRO data, Wes and his team developed TID’s Hydrocomp Forecast and Analysis Model, which is one of the only hourly and physically-based hydrologic models used for water operations in California.

“Wes has demonstrated remarkable collaboration throughout his career that has resulted in partnerships with wonderful organizations such as NASA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography,” said ACWA President Cathy Green. “The technology and models Wes and his team were able to develop in partnership with these organizations provide TID with insight into the current and future state of its reservoirs to inform water operation decisions on both a short- and long-term basis.”

The Excellence in Water Leadership Award, Building a World of Difference^®, recognizes individuals who have made a remarkable and visible contribution to California water. The award, sponsored by Black & Veatch Corporation, was presented during ACWA’s 2025 Spring Conference & Expo in Monterey where approximately 1,500 water industry professionals in California are attending programs and panel discussions on a variety of key water issues.

For more information about ACWA’s awards programs, please visit www.acwa.com/awards.

ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose approximately 470 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com

Contact: Heather Engel, ACWA Director of Communications | C (916) 669-2387

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/71fd6aa2-e9a1-4e63-bd35-b99fea7c5163