Rogers-Lowell Area News

Alan Fortenberry recognized as 2017 Beaver Lake Watershed Guardian

Alan D. Fortenberry P.E., CEO of Beaver Water District, received the Beaver Lake Watershed Guardian Award on Nov. 17 during the Beaver Watershed Alliance’s annual Friendraiser event. Fortenberry joined Beaver Water District in 1991 as Plant Engineer, and in 2001, he was named CEO of Beaver Water District. Fortenberry has been a staunch advocate of protecting and preserving the water quality of Beaver Lake and its watershed. In his tenure of almost two decades, he oversaw the development of one of the nation’s first source water protection programs and was pivotal in establishing the Beaver Watershed Alliance.

As a watershed advocate, Fortenberry played a significant role in establishing funding for source water protection programs, a crowning achievement. In 2016, the BWD board approved a measure to designate four cents per every thousand gallons sold to source water protection initiatives. These funds will be used exclusively for programs and initiatives that will maintain the water quality of Beaver Lake for all generations. Since their inception, these funds have been used to support a multitude of programs and activities including watershed and lake volunteer monitoring, land trust conservation easements, stream restoration projects, best management practices (BMP) education for developers and construction industry professionals and principle support to the Beaver Watershed Alliance.

“Without Mr. Fortenberry’s vision and leadership, the Beaver Watershed Alliance and BWD source water protection funding mechanism would not exist. The source water protection programs completed to date and the potential initiatives in the future are a legacy of his leadership,” said John Pennington, Executive Director of the Beaver Watershed Alliance.

The Watershed Guardian Award program is a stewardship recognition effort carried out by the Beaver Watershed Alliance Awareness and Education Committee. The purpose is to recognize individuals, businesses, organizations, and agencies in the Beaver Watershed community who have demonstrated, supported, or achieved water quality protection efforts within the Beaver Lake Watershed. These awardees have gone above and beyond to work towards good water quality for our region and have served as an inspiration to those around them to follow their example.

The Beaver Watershed Alliance is a non-profit organization focused on maintaining high quality drinking water in Beaver Lake and improve water quality within the Beaver Lake Watershed. For more information about BWA, the Watershed Guardian Award, or how you can become involved in helping to protect water quality in Beaver
Lake and its watershed, visit www.beaverwatershedalliance.org or call 479-750-8007.