Dave Neiman Source Water Protection Awards
Source Water Protection

Every year the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Minnesota Rural Water Association (MRWA) jointly recognize public water systems who demonstrate outstanding commitment to protecting their drinking water source. The winner and finalists are announced at the Minnesota Rural Water Conference in March. They are presented with certificates signed by the Governor's office in hometown recognition ceremonies.

In 2020, MDH and MRWA created a new award category to recognize public water systems serving populations of 1,000 or less.

Effective in 2021, the awards were renamed the “Dave Neiman Source Water Protection Awards” to celebrate and commemorate the contributions that Dave Neiman made to source water protection in Minnesota over his career.

On this page:

• Winners and finalists
• Nominate an outstanding Public Water System
• About Dave Neiman

Winners and finalists

Congratulations to the 2026 winners and finalists listed below! Previous winners and finalists are listed in the archive.

Large system category winner: City of Baxter

The city of Baxter has undertaken several significant projects to ensure long-term safety and sustainability of their water supply, including:

• Constructing a $2.6 million stormwater wetland treatment site covering 13 acres. The stormwater treatment site was designed to utilize wetlands and native plants to reduce pollution and provide flooding relief to areas within Baxter, while treating the surface stormwater runoff caused during large rain events before the water enters the Mississippi river. Additional cover crops were planted on key fields, which will further help reduce nitrate contamination in the groundwater.
• Extensive public outreach and education such as, developing Source Water Protection educational materials, posted on the City's website, providing groundwater and wellhead education packets to the science teachers of 5th through 8th grade students at Forestview School and distributing over 500 letters and SWP educational packets to city residents, lake associations members, and lake shore owners in and around Perch and Rush Lake.  
• Sealing three (3) old municipal wells, including one observation well at the former Water Treatment Plant No. 2, and four (4) privately owned wells located within the DWSMA.

Small system category winner: City of Kimball

The city of Kimball has undertaken several notable projects to protect their drinking water source, including:

• Working to clean out the stormwater lines and remove years of built-up sediment to restore the stormwater drains to their intended purpose
• In 2025 the city of Kimball collected 1,754 lbs. of latex paint, 453 lbs. of oil-based paint, 112 fluorescent light bulbs and 823 lbs. of other household cleaners. These actions worked to keep over 40 tons of hazardous waste from entering the environment.

Finalists: Cities of Buffalo, St. Peter, Comstock, and Esko Public Schools

The city of Buffalo collaborated with local partners to educate the community about source water and increased the residents’ awareness about the use of their aquifer, and preserving its use for the future. 

The city of St. Peter actively engaged in a comprehensive and collaborative approach to protecting its drinking water supply, which faces challenges including high nitrates and vulnerability to large rain events. The city has established strong partnerships with various agencies, including MRWA, MDH, MDA, SWCD, and NRCS, to implement Best Management Practices (BMPs) and develop a robust Climate Resiliency Plan. These efforts, supported by grant funding and community engagement initiatives like the Sustainability Task Force and informative blog posts, have created a blueprint for managing water resources. 

The City of Comstock worked to educate residents about wellheads and drinking water, which provided the foundation to carry out the wellhead protection activities.  By educating the people the city was able to work with the well owner and have the well properly sealed and an unused tank in the IWMZ sealed, eliminating a potential source of contamination to the city's drinking water.

Esko Public Schools, with the help of MDH and MRWA, was successful in removing the potential contaminant source of an unused fuel oil tank. These efforts to remove the fuel oil tank protected the well that supplied a source of clean drinking water to the children and staff of Esko Public Schools, and community that relied on the 3 other Public Water Systems and private wells in the surrounding area. 

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Nominate an outstanding Public Water System

Fill out and submit a Nomination Template Form (Word) to nominate an outstanding public water system. The form includes instructions. The public water system must have an approved source water protection plan.

Nominations for accepted until the third Friday in January.

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About Dave Neiman

Dave Neiman joined MRWA in 1995 and focused on source water, groundwater, and wellhead protection. Bruce Olsen, former MDH SWP Unit Supervisor said of Dave,

“Dave is one of the pioneers involved with developing the wellhead protection program and has greatly helped MDH staff determine the role that planners have in preparing and implementing wellhead protection plans. Dave is responsible for developing the roles that MRWA plays in protecting public sources of drinking water and was instrumental in helping the MDH assess the practicality of state wellhead regulations as they were being developed. The people of Minnesota owe a debt of gratitude to Dave for his devotion to drinking water protection and for the countless hours that he has contributed to helping public water suppliers protect everyone’s drinking water.”

Dave valued and represented the “salt of the earth” public water supplier perspective in wellhead protection planning and program development. He has left an amazing legacy and his efforts will continue to influence the future of source water protection. Some of Dave’s work can be found on the MRWA website.

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