Spring Runoff Conference Honors Inaugural Water Champion Award Recipients

LOGAN, Utah — Organizers of the Northern Utah Water Users Spring Runoff Conference honored the inaugural recipients of the Northern Utah Water Champion Award on March 25, recognizing two individuals whose careers have made sustained, meaningful contributions to water stewardship, management and policy in Northern Utah.

This year’s honorees were Joanna Endter-Wada, emeritus professor of natural resource policy and social science at Utah State University, and Jim DeRito, Bear River program director for Trout Unlimited.

The Northern Utah Water Champion Award was established to recognize individuals whose work has strengthened the region’s water systems and communities through research, policy, planning, management and collaboration. The awards were presented during the conference’s morning session at the Cache County Event Center in Logan.

“As the Spring Runoff team has considered what this conference can and should do for the water community, we recognized that we wanted to honor more of the many, many people helping to solve Utah’s water challenges,” said conference organizer Anna McEntire, managing director of the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water & Air at USU. “That is how the Northern Utah Water Champion Award was born. Setting up the award was easy. Selecting just two awardees from among all the water champions we know — that was the hard part.”

Endter-Wada was recognized for her career-long contributions to water policy, conservation and community-focused research in Utah. Her work has helped shape statewide conversations on urban water conservation, integrated land and water planning and the human dimensions of drought and climate change. She has served in leadership roles including Governor Herbert’s Water Strategy Advisory Team, the Great Salt Lake Strike Team, and the Fish Health Policy Board, and has helped advance efforts such as WaterMAPS and Utah Growing Water Smart.

“I’ve always enjoyed puzzles, and water is one of the best puzzles there is,” Endter-Wada said. “How people work together in trying to access, use and protect that resource is the part that has fascinated me the most, as a social and policy scientist.”

DeRito was honored for his leadership in fisheries conservation and water management across the Bear River Basin. Since 2012, he has worked with partners across Utah, Idaho and Wyoming to advance projects that improve irrigation infrastructure and fish passage while supporting water users and aquatic ecosystems. He has helped secure more than $25 million for conservation work and has contributed to collaborative efforts including the Logan River Task Force, Bear River Watershed Council and PacifiCorp’s Bear River Environmental Coordination Committee.

“I continue to be optimistic about the future and that we’ll continue to find mutually beneficial solutions, thanks to a lot of the organizations and people that believe in the basin,” DeRito said.

The Spring Runoff Conference brings together water users, researchers, policymakers and practitioners to discuss current conditions and emerging challenges facing Northern Utah. The addition of the Northern Utah Water Champion Award highlighted the importance of long-term leadership, partnership, and service in addressing the region’s water issues.