NWEA History | Founded 1952

In commemoration of our 50th anniversary we have begun a written history of the Association. If you have any information you would like to contribute, please contact:

Joe Dabbs at (402) 444-3922
Fax (402) 444-3921
E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Nebraska Water Environment Association (NWEA) was founded in 1952 as the Nebraska Sewage and Industrial Wastes Association.

Our mission is to be a water quality organization committed to public education, training and providing leadership in water quality policy development.

The Association began with 46 members. Dave Hill, City of Hastings was the President and Paul Mousel from McCook was Secretary-Treasurer. An annual meeting called the Great Plains Sewage Works Design Conference (now the Great Plains Waste Management Conference) was scheduled for the first time in 1956 by then President, William F. Rapp, Jr. of Crete and continues today. The primary focus is to help communities, engineers and plant operators design, build and operate sewage treatment works by communicating and sharing ideas. There have been several name changes over the years. In 1992 the Federation approved a name change to the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and Nebraska became the first member association to change its name to the Nebraska Water Environment Association.

We currently have over 500 members, 19 standing committees, 4 annual meetings, 7 recognition awards, a quarterly newsletter, the web page, a Scholarship Endowment Fund, Membership Directory, annual golf outing, and an internal membership division called the Nebraska Wastewater Operators Division.

Other special functions that the Association has sponsored or participated in over the years include: the Voluntary Certification Program for Operators from 1962 until 1991; Operations Challenge from 1989 to 1996, Top Op Competition from 1996 to present, Children's Groundwater Festival from 1989 to present and an ongoing contributor to WERF, the Water Environment Research Foundation.

Nebraska also has a Quarter Century Club and a Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers.

Our own C. Dale Jacobson of Jacobson Helgoth Consultants in Omaha became Treasurer of the Federation in 1995, moved through the chairs to be elected Federation President in 97-98. He is the only member of our Association to ever hold office in the Federation however, Nebraska has had several of its members serve on the Federation's Board of Control, national committees, and contribute to presentations during conferences