Awards
The Colorado Water Congress celebrates the success of its members by bestowing annual honors for exemplary achievement. After all, it is the work and dedication of Water Congress members that drives our success and shapes a beneficial outcome for Colorado water.
Wayne N. Aspinall Award
Water Leader of the Year Award
Russ George
The Colorado Water Congress presents the prestigious Wayne N. Aspinall “Water Leader of the Year” Award annually to an individual Coloradan who has long demonstrated courage, dedication, knowledge and strong leadership in the development, protection and preservation of Colorado water.
Honorees reflect those attributes so clearly possessed by the award’s namesake, Wayne N. Aspinall. The late Mr. Aspinall, a lawyer and former longtime member of the U. S. House of Representatives, remains one of the most influential water leaders in Colorado history.
This award, established in 1980, is presented to that person exemplifying the courage, dedication, knowledge and leadership qualities shown by Wayne N. Aspinall in the development, protection and preservation of the water of the State of Colorado. The award need not necessarily be an annual one. Nominees may be any person who best demonstrated the “Aspinall” characteristics of leadership. The Aspinall Award shall be unique and meaningful in keeping with the qualities of the man for which the award was named. The leadership contribution shall have been significant in terms of the development, protection or preservation of some or all of Colorado’s waters.
Copies of each “Wayne N. Aspinall Water Leader of the Year” Award shall be prominently displayed in the CWC office.
Please submit your nomination form by August 31 for consideration of the award to be given at the upcoming Annual Convention in January of the following year.
Recipients of the Wayne N. Aspinall "Water Leader of the Year" Award
1981 Ival V. Goslin*
1982 Glenn G. Saunders*
1983 Felix L. "Larry" Sparks*
1984 Charles L. "Tommy" Thomson*
1985 W. D. Farr*
1986 Fred V. Kroeger*
1987 Benjamin F. Stapleton*
1988 Ray D. Nixon*
1989 John M. Sayre*
1990 Frank E. "Sam" Maynes*
1991 William H. Miller*
1992 John R. Fetcher*
1993 Frank Milenski*
1994 Fred E. Anderson*
1995 J.R. "Bob" Barkley*
1996 Hank Brown
1997 Ralph Adkins*
1998 Stephen L.R. McNichols*
1999 Richard D. MacRavey*
2000 John Porter*
2001 Larry Simpson
2002 L. Richard Bratton*
2003 Ray Kogovsek*
2004 Ralph Curtis*
2005 Gale A. Norton
2006 David Smith*
2007 Lewis Entz
2008 Don Ament
2009 Tillie Bishop*
2010 Alan C. Hamel
2011 Eric Wilkinson
2012 David W. Robbins
2013 Diane Hoppe*
2014 James S. Lochhead
2015 Bill Trampe
2016 Harold Miskel
2017 Travis Smith
2018 Mark Pifher
2019 John McClow
2020 Christine Arbogast
2021 Jim Broderick
2022 Jennifer Gimbel
2023 Patti Wells
2024 Erin Wilson
2024 Douglas Kemper
2025 Russel George
*Deceased. We fondly remember those honorees who have passed on.