Sandoval County Rural Water Associations and others lauded at the New Mexico Rural Water Association Conference

Sandoval County announced that there were several county winners at the 48th Annual New Mexico Rural Association (NMRWA) Conference, which was held on April 14 – 16, 2026, at the Isleta Resort and Casino in Albuquerque, NM. Sandoval County entities earned the following awards: Small Water System of the Year: Sile Mutual Domestic Water & Sewer Association (MDWSA); Medium Water System of the Year: Jemez Springs Domestic Water Association; Best Tasting Drinking Water in New Mexico: Peña Blanca Mutual Domestic Water Consumers and Mutual Sewage Works; and Elected Official of the Year: Joshua A. Jones, Commissioner, District 5, Sandoval County. Also, the Pueblo of Jemez and its Public Works Department earned second place in the Best Tasting Drinking Water in New Mexico contest.

About The New Mexico Rural Water Association

New Mexico Rural Water Association (NMRWA) is a nonprofit membership organization committed to helping communities provide safe drinking water and wastewater services through on-site technical assistance, specialized training, and legislative support. NMRWA members are water and wastewater systems, businesses, and individuals dedicated to protecting public health every day. We are a state affiliate of the National Rural Water Association, America’s largest utility membership organization representing over 31,000 public water and wastewater systems nationwide. For more information, contact Aaron Lee, president of the NMRWA, at aaron@nmrwa.org.

A diverse group of seven individuals stand together in a well-lit room, holding award plaques. The group includes two men wearing cowboy hats. The person on the far left, Commissioner Joshua A. Jones, holds a framed certificate, and the person next to them holds a black plaque. The central figures also hold plaques or certificates, with several individuals wearing jeans and casual attire, while others are dressed more formally in blazers and patterned shirts.
From left to right, Commissioner Joshua Jones; Bernadette Phillips (President of Sile MDWSA); Christine Urban, Sile resident; Kathleen Groody, Treasurer, Sile MDWSA; Sandra Gutierrez, Sile MDWSA Board Member and water operator for both Sile and Pena Blanca Water and Sanitation District); Caleb Rivera, Sile resident; and Zeke Rivera, Sile resident and MDWSA Board Member.