Alliance Water Resources is the winner of the 2001 Missouri Governor\'s Award for Environmental Excellence and Pollution Prevention. According to Michael D. Grote of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the awards program, Alliance was honored for its efforts in the education and outreach category. In addition, the Missouri House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing Alliance as a “superb example of businesses that are environmentally aware.”

Headquartered in Columbia, Alliance Water Resources has more than 200 employees and is the number one supplier of contract operations for water and wastewater systems and total system management services to cities and communities in Missouri.

The Governor\'s Award specifically recognizes the efforts of Alliance division manager Phil Webster of Cameron, Missouri, in developing innovative educational programs on water conservation and water and wastewater treatment for middle school science students. In addition, Webster developed and Alliance (along with the Cameron R-1 School District) funded the publication of 1,000 sets of classroom materials on the science of water conservation and treatment.

State Representative Randall H. Relford, District 6, nominated Alliance and Webster for the award.

Webster has been volunteering his time to teach special units on environmental science in Missouri schools for more than 10 years. He began his career with Alliance in 1986 as a laboratory technician and operator in O\'Fallon, Missouri. There the Missouri Water and Sewage Conference honored him as Operator of the Year. He became superintendent of the Cameron Division in 1990, and in 1993 won the Warren A. Kramer award from the Missouri Water and Wastewater Conference for his contributions to the industry. In 1999 he was honored by the Missouri Water Environment Federation as Operator of the Year in the large facilities category. In addition to his work for Alliance, he currently is president of the Cameron Community Hospital Foundation.

“We\'re proud of Phil Webster\'s contributions to the environment, to schools, and to the community,” says Greg Mattli, Alliance\'s chief executive officer. “Because Alliance is on the front lines of keeping streams clear and providing safe drinking water, we go far beyond just championing environmental causes. We\'re actually working every day to improve the environment.”

Webster\'s interactive classes for eighth grade science students include a focus on water as a limited resource, how we get our water dirty, the importance of cleaning our water, water law, the wastewater treatment process, pollution prevention, and career opportunities.

Students use microscopes to look at bacterial and protozoa levels at various points in the wastewater treatment processes. They also study samples of water before, during, and after treatment, and witness specific chemical reactions used in the treatment process.

“We have great kids in our schools, and the School District has been great to work with,” Phil Webster says. “We truly believe in participating as a positive force in the communities in which we work.”

In addition to Alliance, winners of this year\'s Governor\'s Award for Environmental Excellence in other categories include General Motors, Ralston Purina, Target Stores, Reeds Spring High School, City of Parksville Public Works, and the City of Springfield.

Alliance currently operates water and wastewater systems in the Missouri cities of Bowling Green, Cameron, Cape Girardeau, Clinton, Elsberry, Fredericktown, Fulton, Gerald, Lake Ozark, Lexington, O\'Fallon, and Osage Beach. In Iowa, Alliance operates systems in Tipton and, beginning this summer, in Maquoketa.

Alliance also operates rural water and wastewater districts in Buchanan County, DeKalb County, Franklin County, Lincoln County, and St. Charles County, Missouri.

The range of services provided by the company includes total water and wastewater utility management, plant operations and maintenance, collection and distribution system operations and maintenance, and computerized billing.

Alliance\'s water and wastewater utility expertise also encompasses broader system management areas, including rate evaluations and financial management, system audits and evaluations, system acquisition assistance, troubleshooting, start-up services, design/build/operate programs, and public works services.