Memorial Scholarship Donations

ACWA members may make a gift in honor or in memory of a colleague or fellow member who has been instrumental to the enhancement, protection or development of water resources in California.

Donations are applied to ACWA’s Scholarship Fund, which assists undergraduate students majoring in engineering, irrigation technology, environmental sciences, public administration and other water-resources related fields.

To arrange for a memorial scholarship donation, please email scholarships@acwa.com.

The following memorial scholarship donations have been made by ACWA members.

Dublin San Ramon Services District – James B. Kohnen

In 2015, Dublin San Ramon Services District contributed $1,000 in memory of James B. Kohnen who served on the District’s Board of Directors for eight years, from 1992 to 2000.

Mr. Kohnen played an integral part in creating the modern district that now exists. He had his hand in developing the Dougherty Valley, in bringing recycled water to the Tri-Valley, and in the expansion of the District’s Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility. Mr. Kohnen contributed to the expansion of water, wastewater, and recycled water services to east Dublin. He was also instrumental in the expansion of the Livermore Amador Valley Water Management Agency that built the pipeline to transport treated wastewater from member agencies’ treatment plants in the Tri-Valley, west, over the Dublin grade, to a deep water outfall in the San Francisco Bay.

Mr. Kohnen was a life-long learner, earning two bachelor degrees (one in biology from Ripon College, Wisconsin, and the other in management from St. Mary’s College, California), two masters degrees (one in Procurement and Contract Management from St. Mary’s College, California, and the other in Human Resources and Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco, California), and a doctorate (in Education/Organization and Leadership from the University of San Francisco, California). Mr. Kohnen also served in the U.S. Army Reserve for 30 years, graduating from the U.S. Army War College and the Air War College, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces before retiring as a Colonel.

Mr. Kohnen served on Zone 7 Water Agency’s Board of Directors for four years, from 2004 to 2008. At the time of his death, May 29, 2012, he was serving on the Boards of Hope Hospice, the Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District, and the California Special Districts Association.