Medford Water Wins Drinking Water Protection Award
- February 4, 2025 | Category: Water Resources, Your Water
The 2024 Summer Olympics are long over, with the many athletes having taken home prestigious medals in their sports, and hometowns across the country hosting parades and other celebrations. These awards take years of hard work, dedication, and support from various partners.
Though not a competition per se, Medford Water takes pride in having received a Drinking Water Source Protection Award from the State of Oregon in early 2025. This award recognizes our excellence in protecting Medford’s two drinking water sources, Big Butte Springs and the Rogue River. Our strong programs and policies protect each water source from potential contamination.
One such program is our Spill Response Program, a key objective of our greater Source Water Protection Plan, adopted in October 2024 to protect the water quality and sustainability of our water resources. It consists of a geographic spill response plan, response material and equipment, and training.
At annual spill control trainings, professional instructors bring together partner agencies from all over the region for hands-on training that covers spill types, containment strategies and equipment, and collection and recovery. This training shows what equipment works and what else is needed, and informs our geographic response plan.
We’ve been protecting these resources since our organization was established in 1922, with support and coordination with numerous partners, including Rogue River Watershed Council, Rogue River Drinking Water Partnership, U.S. Forest Service, and more.
The best way to maintain safe drinking water is to protect the source, and while we think our award-winning drinking water deserves a hometown celebration too, we’re happy knowing that by protecting our water sources we fulfill our mission to safeguard public health and water quality for the communities we serve.
Find out more about Source Water Protection.