New Mexico Water and Wastewater

01/14/2025

Dear NM Water & Wastewater Association Members:
I will be retiring as NM Water & Wastewater Association Executive Manager after 51 years of service. I would like to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to serve and be a part of this wonderful organization. I have made so many special friendships throughout the years which I truly value. In this Association we are all like family. We have all worked hard to protect the public health & environment of everyone in New Mexico by providing training for water and wastewater utility operators who are professional and essential workers. Please continue to support the NM Water & Wastewater Association.

Sincerely yours,

Caroline Sanchez

12/12/2024

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of one of the most dedicated member, instructor, board member & committee chair person of the NM Water & Wastewater Association. Art Torrez was dedicated to the training of all utility operators from throughout New Mexico. Art was a lifetime member and won several awards in appreciation for all his hard work and dedication to the Association. He served as an executive board member for over 20 years in all the offices including President for 2 terms. He also was very involved in the SE Section as President for several years. Art was full of humor & life. Everywhere he went he made friends. He was our famous entertainer for our "Meet & Greet" at our annual schools. He always made sure the SE Section Workshop ran smoothly. We could always count on Art to
teach any wastewater subject at all the Association's Schools & Workshops. It was because of Art and his operator's hard work that the City of Roswell's Water & Wastewater Plants got awarded the the Good Housekeeping & Max Summerlot Award year after year.
Art was not only a member of our Association but also a very special & valuable friend. In appreciation to Art the NMWWA will honor Art by establishing the "Art Torrez Outstanding Facility Manager Award" at the 2025 70th Annual Awards Banquet on January 29th at the Las Cruces Hotel Encanto, The award will be presented to his family in Art's memory.

R.I.P. our dear friend.

12/09/2024

https://www.ballardfuneralhome.com/obituaries/arthur-torrez

View Arthur "Bull" Torrez's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

05/13/2022

Public Utilities Department in Los Alamos County.

I wrote another theme song in honor of all the guys at GWS, Gas Water and Sewer who sacrifice their time and family to put in work for the County. You guys are the most intelligent and hardest working people I have ever come to know. Keep up the good work fellas..WE DA BEST‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ (Part 2)

Ricardo Lambert

Public Utilities Department in Los Alamos County.I wrote another theme song in honor of all the guys at GWS, Gas Water and Sewer who sacrifice their time and...

12/17/2021

In Memorandum

Douglas James Paczynski

Douglas James Paczynski, 62 of Las Cruces, NM passed away on December 10, 2021 in Las Cruces, NM.

Doug was born in Las Cruces, NM to Alexander and Audrey Paczynski on January 30, 1959. He married the love of his life Susan on June 5, 2021 in Las Cruces.

Doug served on the vestry of St. Andrews Episcopal Church, he was an avid golfer and played every week. He was able to achieve his dream of being a marshal at the Phoenix Open for the past 3 years. Doug was an accomplished drummer and music lover. He played with numerous bands in Las Cruces during his life.

Doug worked for the City of Las Cruces for 25 years, retiring as the Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant manager. Doug Paczynski was instrumental in developing and maintaining the website, www.nmwwa.org for the New Mexico Water & Wastewater Association for the past 13 years. He also took pictures at the Annual Awards Banquet for quite a number of years. He was a devoted member who valued the Association and received the “Ted Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2016. He also received the “Outstanding Operator of the Year Award” early in his career. Doug was a certified operator with the State of New Mexico and was a wonderful asset to all the certified utility operators. Doug had many friends who respected him and appreciated his efforts in the field. Rest in peace our dear friend, we will miss you.

10/22/2021

Memorial for Paul Carl Krauth
(NMWWA Instructor)

The activated sludge training in heaven was kicked up a notch on September 20, 2021 when Paul Krauth “got the P out” of this worldly realm. Paul was welcomed to the other side by his parents, Carl and Marilyn and 17 hungry cats. As anyone who knows Paul can guess he showed up there at lunch time ready for a good meal with a good story about how he snuck out of this life without anyone catching him.

Paul was many things in this life all of which he lived well or did well. He graduated from the University of Utah in Engineering, either mechanical or environmental depending on which resume you read and other degrees that may have also been mentioned in those resumes. He played center on the “U” football team which anyone could have guessed because he loved being the center of attention. He began his career as a Professional Engineer and worked for the State of Utah in Water Quality. He held many job titles but the one he cherished was as an onsite trainer for wastewater facilities. Paul was dedicated to helping facilities avoid problems and helping operators pass required certification tests. Hundreds of Utah certified operators and perhaps thousands nationwide can attest to his training skills.

Paul was involved in many professional organizations including the Associated Boards of Certification, Water Environment Federation, Water Environment Association of Utah, NM Water & Wastewater Association and multiple training organizations. Paul was the president of the Water Environment Association of Utah where he held the all-time record for spending money and is fondly remembered for the annual conference where the food was fantastic. Paul knew every nationally renowned wastewater expert and was just “one of the boys” in that club.

Paul received many awards in his lifetime but the one he always included on his resumes was for being the 5-time winner of the “clean lunch plate” award at Hillview Elementary School.

Paul had been selected to receive the “Outstanding Instructor of the Year” award at the 2022 NMWWA 67th Annual Awards Banquet in January 2022. He was a wonderful and dedicated instructor and the NM Water & Wastewater Association feels a great loss. Rest in peace Paul, we will miss you greatly.

Paul was branded by Bob Okey (one of those wastewater experts) as the “World’s Greatest Hedonist,” but was also known as a caring friend, a brilliant mind, a dedicated servant of the public good, and a hometown hero to many. He will be missed, but fondly remembered.

02/22/2021

Date: February 23, 2021

To: NMWWA Utility Operators
From: Armando Cordero, President, New Mexico Water and Wastewater Association

New Mexico Operators:
The Executive Board and Staff will continue to provide remote training throughout 2021 year, During the last few months, NMWWA staff and instructors have been working diligently on methods of providing training and complying with current New Mexico Covid-19 mass gathering requirements. The New Mexico Water and Wastewater Association is proud to announce future training opportunities for Utility Workers in New Mexico.

A calendar listing of training short schools & workshops is available to all NMWWA members and non-members. Visit our web site for pre-registration forms. NMWWA will be prepared to transition to live training when Covid-19 restrictions are relaxed.

NMWWA decided to continue awarding operators, facilities, instructors, and other awards presented to our hard-working operators throughout New Mexico. We will do a 2022 67th Annual Awards Ceremony in January. Our goal is to have the ceremony in Las Cruces along with the face-to-face training classes however, if that can’t happen, we will continue with the Webex on-line training and ceremony.

Please do not hesitate to contact the NMWWA office for assistance.

Thank you for your continued support, understanding, and dedication during these trying times.

Armando Cordero, NMWWA President

02/16/2021

2021 NMWWA Awards Ceremony. Please click on the link below to view the presentation. ( make sure to open on a DESKTOP)

* You may copy the link and paste on the browser.

https://1drv.ms/p/s!AgPj_Q6HrlKfmw9--mresIET4M7q

11/25/2020

The UOCP is pleased to report that the new computer based testing for operator certification exams has been up and running successfully since mid-October and with a higher pass rate than with the previous in-person exam sessions. We are grateful to the Department of Workforce Solutions (DWS) for their partnership and provision of testing centers.

Unfortunately, due to the significant spike in COVID-19 cases and the most recent emergency public health order by Governor Lujan-Grisham, testing at the DWS Workforce Connection Centers has been suspended as offices remain closed at least through November 30. No exam scheduling will take place during this time.

The November 13th public health order will be in effect through November 30 with “re-opening” benchmarks to be set county by county upon expiration. This likely gradual reopening by county will likely affect the re-opening of exam centers across the state. We will post updates on our website as more information becomes available.

Also, please visit New Mexico.gov for the Latest Updates on COVID-19.

Thank you for your patience as we work through this together and stay safe out there.

11/17/2020

Date: November 17, 2020

To: NMWWA Utility Operators & Interested Parties

From: Art Torrez, President, New Mexico Water and Wastewater Association

Fellow Operators:

I am pleased to announce that the New Mexico Water and Waster Association continues to survive the Covid-19 pandemic. We were placed on a ventilator in June and were dying internally. Due to support of operators from across the state we are surviving. We could not have done this without our Executive Manager, Caroline Sanchez, and her able assistant, Rose Trujillo.
During the previous months, NMWWA staff have been diligently working on methods of providing training and complying to current New Mexico Covid-19 mass gathering requirements at the same time. The New Mexico Water and Wastewater Association is proud to announce future plans for training opportunities for Utility Workers in New Mexico. The training opportunities for 2021 will be remote training and occur on a regular basis. A calendar listing training workshops and short schools will be available to all NMWWA members. Visit our web site www.nmwwa.org for pre-registration forms. Note: N.M.W.W.A. will be prepared to transition to live training when Covid-19 restrictions are relaxed.
Other good news, the NMWWA decided to continue awarding operators, facilities, instructors, and other awards presented to our hard-working operators throughout New Mexico. We will do a 2021 66th Annual Awards Ceremony this January 29, 2021 right after the on-line Annual School on January 25-28th. It will begin at 10:30 am and will be done as a Webex on-line meeting.
Please submit” Outstanding Operator of the Year” award nominations to Caroline or Rose as soon as possible.
Thank you for your continued support, understanding, and dedication during these trying times
Arthur Torrez, NMWWA President

New Mexico Water and Wastewater Association. Providing operations and certification training. Assisting New Mexico's Water Technology Professionals.

07/28/2020

ON BEHALF OF NMED
UOCP Testing Update


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Drinking Water Bureau
UTILITY OPERATOR CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
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NEW Computer-based Testing Coming Soon!

The Utility Operator Certification Program (UOCP) will be offering computer-based testing for all operator certification exams. UOCP is partnering with the Association of Boards of Certification (ABC) and New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions to administer exams in place of previously scheduled 2020 exam sessions. We hope to make this new testing opportunity available by late August.
Starting August 15, 2020 our office will reconvene accepting Exam Applications.
Key Benefits for Computer-based testing:
• More Locations
o 22 Workforce Solutions Testing Centers across the state
(Due to COVID-19, testing centers will be operating at a limited capacity with COVID-safe practices in place)
o Other potential locations such as colleges and universities
• Convenience
o Scheduling flexibility – choose when you test
o More exam times and testing locations available
• Priority
o Immediate score available upon completion of exams
• Cost Effective
o Minimal travel expenses - exam locations closer to you.
IMPORTANT NOTES
The 2020 Exam Sessions previously scheduled for the in-person paper exams are cancelled. We will no longer be offering paper exams as they are being replaced with computer-based exams.
The April 2020 exam applications already approved will be prioritized and offered first scheduling opportunities based on availability of the testing centers across the state. We will do our best to coordinate with each operator for individual accommodations in each region across the state.
NO exam applications or payments will be accepted before August 15th.
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Sign-up TODAY for Important Updates!
Please share this information and invite your fellow operators and co-workers to sign-up for important email notifications thru Gov Delivery Email Updates - the link also available on the UOCP website.

Get Important Operator NEWS & Updates

Stay tuned for more important updates to come, visit the UOCP Website frequently for more
information on the latest developments of the NEW Computer-based Testing.
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Utility Operator Certification Program
(505) 827-2802
[email protected]
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Non-Employee Discrimination Complaints
NMED does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age or s*x in the administration of its programs or activities. To learn more, or file a complaint, go to The Non-Employee Discrimination Complaint Page.
Justicia ambiental/Quejas por discriminación contra quienes no son empleados
El Departamento del Medio Ambiente de Nuevo México (NMED, por su sigla en inglés) no discrimina por motivos de raza, color, origen nacional, discapacidad, edad o s*xo en la administración de sus programas o actividades. Para obtener más información o para presentar una queja, visite: https://www.env.nm.gov/non-employee-discrimination-complaint-page/

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NMED works with all types of businesses in New Mexico to issue permits and licenses for complying with state and federal regulations. We assist businesses to protect the environment, worker safety, and public health. Voluntary assistance programs help businesses to meet and go beyond compliance and....

07/14/2020

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NMED works with all types of businesses in New Mexico to issue permits and licenses for complying with state and federal regulations. We assist businesses to protect the environment, worker safety, and public health. Voluntary assistance programs help businesses to meet and go beyond compliance and....