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American Water Funds 2010 Environmental Grant Programs

Company Awards More than $128,000 to 32 Community Improvement Projects

VOORHEES, N.J., Apr 21, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK), the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company, announced today the recipients of the company's 2010 Environmental Grant Program awards. A total of 32 projects throughout American Water's service areas in eight states will be supported by grants totaling more than $128,000.

Established in 2005, American Water's Environmental Grant Program offers funds for innovative, community-based environmental projects that improve, restore or protect the watersheds, surface water and/or groundwater supplies in the communities it serves.

"American Water is committed to ensuring water quality through testing and treatment, as well as through consumer education and community source protection programs," said Debra Vernon, Manager of Corporate Responsibility. "We are all environmental stewards in protecting our water supplies, and this program is one way we help communities play an active role in this important effort."

California

California American Water is issuing two grants totaling $10,000 to the following organizations:

• MEarth Habitat is being awarded $7,000 to establish a Water Conservation Demonstration Center as part of the educational offerings of its new Green Classroom, which is slated to open in Fall 2010. The funds will be used to install a small greywater garden and rainwater harvesting system for two structures, develop interpretive signage, and host a series of workshops to teach the community how to develop these projects in homes and businesses.
• Mount Olive Alternative High School is receiving $3,000 for its Mount Olive Outdoor School Experience (MOOSE) program. The grant will be used to establish raised bed gardens at eight schools in Duarte, California to demonstrate drought-tolerant planting, effective irrigation, vermiculture, composting and vertical gardening as part of the science curriculum.

Illinois

Illinois American Water is issuing four grants totaling $18,100 to the following organizations:

• Living Lands and Waters is being awarded $5,000 for The Great Mississippi River Cleanup. This project will address the preservation and protection of floodplains, wetlands and other areas of the Upper Mississippi River watershed. This includes issues such as pollution, solid waste and recycling, illegal dumping, hazardous waste, damage to the health of wildlife and their habitat, recreational hazards, sustainability and stewardship. This project will impact the 18 million people who rely on the Mississippi River for their drinking water, as well as others who use it for recreation and other purposes.
• Tazewell County Health Department is receiving $1,800 for its Green Matters Streets Clean Up. This project proposes to contribute to the conservation of the recharge zone for Pekin's public water supply by reducing the amount of polluted runoff that contributes to the combination sewer water treated at Pekin's wastewater treatment plant.
• Prairie Rivers Network is receiving $6,000 for its Reining in the Rain in Champaign Campaign. This project will construct rain gardens in the John and Washington Street watersheds, which are prone to flooding. The rain gardens will reduce the amount of stormwater that the storm sewers must handle, while having the simultaneous benefit of recharging groundwater. This project will also provide free rain barrels to residents for trapping rainwater for use in their yards.
• Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is being awarded $5,300 for its Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) program. Created in response to a zebra mussels infestation in the Deep Quarry Lake in the West Branch Forest Reserve, the AIS program is focused on an aggressive public awareness and educational campaign regarding the threats these species pose. The program creates a volunteer initiative called "Protect Your Waters" to help collect district data on zebra mussels through a monitoring program, and to increase awareness and provide information directly to aquatic users.

Indiana

Indiana American Water is issuing two grants totaling $9,500 to the following organizations:

• The City of Noblesville is being awarded $6,000 for its Storm Water Video production project. This five-minute video will be used as part of an outreach strategy to educate the public about water conservation and non-point source pollution, in particular, pollution transported by storm water runoff that ends up in local streams and lakes.
• Kosciusko Lakes and Streams is receiving $3,500 to expand and enhance the annual Northern Indiana Lakes Festival held in Warsaw. The festival attracts hundreds of families from the region, engaging them in hands-on activities, and providing educational entertainment and demonstrations by more than 30 water-related exhibitors and partner organizations. The purpose of the Northern Indiana Lakes Festival is to encourage the community to protect one of its most valuable resources by mobilizing citizens to positively impact water quality. Warsaw is the county seat for Kosciusko County, which features more than 100 lakes.

Iowa

Iowa American Water is issuing three grants totaling $6,200 to the following organizations:

• Keep Scott County Beautiful is receiving $1,000 for its Xstream Cleanup 2010. This project represents Living Lands and Waters local annual clean up of the Mississippi River. The effort aims to clean over 30 streams and near-stream sites in the area.
• Waste Commission of Scott County is being awarded $2,000 for its Operation Medicine Cabinet (OMC) project. OMC is a 3-day event to collect pharmaceuticals free of charge from Scott County residents and educate the public that flushing medications poses a risk to our drinking water.
• Partners of Scott County Watersheds is receiving $3,200 for its Infiltrate Iowa Project. This project will promote infiltration practices that improve water quality, reduce flooding and provide habitat for wildlife such as birds, butterflies and insects.

Kentucky

Kentucky American Water is issuing two grants totaling $19,935 to the following organizations:

• Hamburg Homeowners Association is receiving $9,935 for the Liberty Spring and Stream project. This project will create a rain garden/wetland area and support a tree planting to improve water quality of a natural spring and Bryan Station Creek, a "blue stream," while improving Liberty Park in Lexington. The new rain garden/wetland area will improve water quality by filtering the storm water runoff, and the addition of trees will reduce erosion and silting of the spring and stream. It is likely that the project will encourage wildlife to return to this location and utilize the natural spring.
• Friends of Raven Run is being awarded $10,000 to develop Watershed Workshops at Raven Run, located in Raven Run Nature Sanctuary. The workshops will revolve around a topographical map and various EnviroScapes (3-D maps), to be purchased with grant funds. This project will help educate Central Kentucky children about watersheds and their potential threats, such as non-point source pollution.

Missouri

Missouri American Water is issuing four grants totaling $12,800 to the following organizations:

• East-West Gateway Council of Government is being awarded $5,000 to develop a nine-element watershed plan based on the assessments and recommendations of the Lower Meramec Source Water Protection Strategy Exchange Report. This includes strategies for local governments to promote an important source of drinking water for St. Louis County; improve habitat and recreational areas in streams and restore degraded tributaries; and protect healthy, sensitive streams that are a risk of being degraded by development and other human actions. The project promotes a regional "community of practice" where government officials, developers and residents collectively learn best practices to utilize to address the unique conditions that exist in the area.
• Missouri River Relief is receiving $3,700 for the Missouri River Clean-up and Confluence Watershed Festival. The project includes more than 200 volunteers who will engage in removal of 10 tons of trash from the Missouri River in the St. Charles area, as well as more than 30 presenters who will educate an estimated 400 students about river and water issues including water quality, watershed education and the history of the Missouri River.
• Trailnet is being awarded $1,500 for its Watkins Creek Watershed Program, a public/private multi-agency effort to protect and conserve watershed resources in an urban area. This program will expand opportunities for 50-100 community volunteers to participate in hands-on urban stream clean-ups, invasive species removal and stream bank stabilization, and convene six to ten shareholders to develop a long-range action plan for finding sustainable solutions to the challenges facing Watkins Creek.
• The Environmental Task Force of Jasper and Newton Counties is receiving $2,600 for a Shoal Creek Water Quality Testing project. Fourteen sampling points on Shoal Creek will be monitored with samples collected every two weeks. Data from the results will be used to identify areas of concern for possible best management practices and the development of a draft of a nine-element watershed management plan. The task force also looks to conduct public education about the watershed.

New Jersey

New Jersey American Water is issuing five grants totaling $16,790 to the following organizations:

• Chatham Township Environmental Commission is being awarded $5,000 to conduct an education and outreach project in five municipalities focused on water protection, water conservation and stormwater management. The program will include rain barrel and reusable water bottle sales, as well as demonstration, workshops and rain garden events to give residents and schools "hands on" experiences.
• Cherry Hill Township is being awarded $1,990 to install rain barrels and a rain garden to divert unfiltered rainwater from a feeder stream of Cooper River. The project aims to demonstrate and promote rain barrel and garden installation. The project includes seven rain barrels at the Township's Croft Farm Art Center building.
• South Orange Maplewood School District is receiving $6,000 for a wildlife habitat project at Jefferson Elementary School. The project will engage students in grades 3 through 5 to restore the habitat of nearby Crooked Creek, which is in the school's "backyard." The area will become a state designated "New Jersey Wild School" habitat and used as a hands-on lab for learning about water conservation and watershed restoration.
• Cape May County Board of Agriculture is receiving $1,300 for a stormwater runoff project. Working with the Rutgers University Cooperative Extension, the project will use rain barrels to promote simple best management practices for homeowners to reduce stormwater runoff and conserve water by 44,000 gallons in a six-month period. Following workshops on water conservation and rain barrels, about 40 area homeowners will build and install rain barrels.
• Holmdel Township Environmental Commission is being awarded $2,500 for an educational outreach program. In cooperation with Rutgers University, the Township's Environmental Commission will conduct an educational outreach program to promote stormwater reduction in the watershed with the specific objective of reducing flow volumes and the resulting stream bank erosion.

Ohio

Ohio American Water is issuing one grant to the following organization:

• Ashtabula Township Park Commission is receiving $1,500 for environmental education at the Ashtabula State Scenic River. The project will include displays with pictures and information about aquatic and terrestrial organisms that live in the watershed, the scenic river program, volunteer monitoring and clean-up opportunities as well as ways to protect water quality and an overview of why this is important to the citizens in the watershed.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania American Water is issuing nine grants totaling approximately $34,000 to the following organizations for community-based projects that improve, restore or protect watersheds.

• Friends of McConnells Mill State Park is receiving a grant to help protect the Slippery Rock Creek Watershed from erosion and sedimentation by reforesting two critical areas. The project will rely on local volunteers to plant trees, shrubs and warm season grasses to enhance the sites, which have been cleared due to disease and safety issues with the established trees.
• Pennsylvania Environmental Council is being awarded a grant to undertake an invasive species removal, riparian buffer planting and educational program involving Pennsylvania American Water's property along Huntsville Creek. The project will improve the creek's water quality and educate volunteers about healthy riparian buffers. In addition to removing invasive Japanese Knotweed that contributes to stream bank erosion, the organization will replant the area with native species, trees and shrubs.
• Yellow Breeches Watershed Association is receiving a grant to purchase water-testing equipment for monitoring the health of Yellow Breeches Creek. With the new equipment, the YBWA monitoring teams, including retired science teachers and professionals from the Capital Area Pennsylvania Senior Environmental Corps, will have the technical capability to compile more accurate data and develop a comprehensive look at trends affecting the creek's health.
• Audubon, Pennsylvania is being awarded a grant to develop and implement an educational program called "Wild About Our Watershed" for students in the Norristown School District. The hands-on program will increase the students' knowledge of watersheds and local waterways, including field trips to Perkiomen Creek to monitor and evaluate the creek and help restore it through clean-up events and habitat plantings. The organization will offer the program to schools across Montgomery County, with a special emphasis on the underserved and diverse population of Norristown.
• Keystone College is being awarded a grant to support the college's Watershed Explorers Course for K-6 teachers. The hands-on, science-based course examines various aspects of watershed concepts and provides teachers with the training and tools necessary to inspire their students to be good stewards of the environment. Course topics include human impacts on the watershed, applied stream ecology and water quality monitoring.
• South Park Township is receiving a grant to enable township officials to expand the clean-up of creek beds and banks along Piney Fork and Peters Creeks, as part of its stream clean-up program. The grant will provide the tools to be used by volunteers for clean-up activities, as well as help fund tire and trash disposal.
• Lackawanna River Corridor Association is receiving a grant to help the association, its partners and volunteers clean up illegal dumpsites along the Lackawanna River, including a 4.3-acre former railroad parcel in Scranton and a three-acre abandoned mine site in Dickson City. After removing debris and recycling tires and scrap metal, the organization will seed and mulch the sites.
• Yardley Borough Environmental Advisory Council is being awarded a grant to assist the borough in establishing a rain garden at the Orchard Hill basin. The project will reduce the impact of the residential development's stormwater run-off on the local watershed. The rain garden is a landscaped area that contains native plants and vegetation, replacing lawn areas. It fills with water during rainstorms and allows the water to gradually filter into the ground instead of running off into storm drains.
• Lemoyne Borough is being awarded a grant to support volunteers in applying markers and stencils on approximately 300 stormwater inlets. The project will help raise public awareness about how pollutants reach the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay, while helping prevent unwanted dumping of contaminants in the municipal storm sewer system. The borough will partner on the project with the Boy Scouts, including a local Eagle Scout candidate.

Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 16 million people in 35 states and Ontario, Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.

SOURCE: American Water Works Company, Inc.

American Water
Denise Venuti Free, 856-309-4690
denise.free@amwater.com

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