The Regional Water Authority (RWA) has announced the recipients of its 2025 awards, recognizing individuals and organizations whose leadership, service, and on-the-ground actions have strengthened water reliability and watershed resilience across the Sacramento region. The awards were presented on December 11, 2025, during RWA’s annual holiday event.
Water Statesperson of the Year: Pravani Vandeyar
RWA Board Chair Brett Ewart of the City of Sacramento, Sacramento Assistant City Manager Ryan Moore, Water Statesperson of the Year Pravani Vandeyar, and RWA Executive Director Jim Peifer.
Pravani Vandeyar was named RWA’s 2025 Water Statesperson of the Year in recognition of her regional leadership and lasting impact on collaborative water management in the Sacramento region. The award honors timely leadership that helps move complex regional efforts forward, particularly where coordination, trust, and problem-solving are essential.
As Director of the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities, Vandeyar played a key leadership role in advancing negotiations on the Water Forum Agreement. In 2025, Vandeyar was appointed General Manager of the El Dorado Irrigation District, extending her influence and leadership across the broader region.
RWA Board Chair Brett Ewart of the City of Sacramento, Distinguished Service Award Recipient Paul Schubert, Golden State Water Company General Manager Sean Twilla, and RWA Executive Director Jim Peifer.
Distinguished Service Award: Paul Schubert
Paul Schubert received the 2025 Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his leadership and dedicated service to the Regional Water Authority and the broader regional water community.
Schubert is the General Manager of Golden State Water Company, where he has served for nearly 37 years. His career reflects a hands-on understanding of utility operations, advancing through a wide range of roles—from field operations to executive leadership overseeing utility operations.
Regional Water Management Awards
In 2025, RWA presented two Regional Water Management Awards, recognizing exceptional projects that creatively address critical water management needs and deliver measurable benefits at a regional scale.
Georgetown Divide Public Utilities District—Fire Safe on the Divide
RWA Board Chair Brett Ewart of the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities, RWA Vice Chair Michael Saunders of the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District, PCWA General Manger Andy Fecko, and RWA Executive Director Jim Peifer.
Georgetown Divide Public Utility District received a 2025 Regional Water Management Award for Fire Safe on the Divide, a collaborative initiative with the Georgetown Divide Fire Safe Council to reduce wildfire risk and protect critical water infrastructure in the American River watershed.
Leveraging major grant funding from Cal Fire and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the program focuses on hardening water infrastructure, constructing fire-resilient storage tanks, reducing hazardous fuels around water facilities and evacuation routes, and improving long-term system resilience following catastrophic events such as the Mosquito Fire. These efforts protect the district’s sole water supply—Stumpy Meadows Reservoir—while reducing risks to downstream water quality and regional supplies.
Placer County Water Agency—French Meadows Forest Restoration Project
Placer County Water Agency received a 2025 Regional Water Management Award for the French Meadows Project, a large-scale, collaborative effort to strengthen forest and watershed resilience in the upper American River watershed.
Spanning approximately 22,000 acres of Tahoe National Forest lands and 6,000 acres of private land, the project brings together Placer County, Tahoe National Forest, and PCWA, in partnership with organizations including The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, American River Conservancy, and UC Merced’s Sierra Nevada Research Institute. The initiative focuses on restoring forest health to reduce the risk of severe wildfire that could damage habitat, disrupt water and power supplies, and threaten critical resources relied upon by downstream communities.
About the RWA Awards
RWA’s awards program recognizes excellence across multiple dimensions of regional water management:
- Water Statesperson of the Year (established in 2001) honors timely leadership and alliance-building within the RWA service area.
- Distinguished Service Award (established in 2002) recognizes long-term dedication and leadership in the region’s water community.
- Regional Water Management Award (established in 2019) recognizes exceptional programs or projects that creatively address regional water management needs and deliver measurable benefits to water supply reliability, watershed resilience, water use efficiency, operational performance, customer service, water quality, and environmental protection.
Perpetual trophies bearing the recipients’ names are displayed at the RWA office, and each honoree also receives an individual award.
For more information about RWA’s awards program or the Regional Water Authority, visit:
https://rwah2o.org/about-rwa/award-programs/
