The Alan H. Plummer Environmental Sustainability Award recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the field of environmental sustainability practices within the State of Texas.
Alan H. Plummer, Jr. graduated with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1964 from Lamar University and was later honored as a Distinguished Alumni of Lamar University’s Civil Engineering Department. He received his M.S. in Environmental Health Engineering in 1968 from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, working with such notables in the water and wastewater industry as Drs. Ernest Gloyna, Wes Eckenfelder, Davis Ford, and Joe Malina. In 2007, Alan was honored by induction into UT’s Civil, Architectural, and
Environmental Academy of Distinguished Alumni. A Board Certified Environmental Engineer, he holds engineering licenses in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Arizona, and Oklahoma. Alan Plummer’s talents were acknowledged early in his career as he received the Young Engineer of the Year Award from the Texas Society of Professional Engineers in 1974. Firmly committed to mentoring the next generation of engineers, he has served on the advisory boards of Lamar State University, University of North Texas, and the University of Texas at Arlington.
Currently, Alan is involved in some major water reuse projects in which highly treated municipal effluent is being used to augment the water supplies of several large water districts in the state of Texas. He is recognized throughout the country as a visionary and expert in the area of water reuse and conservation. He is a frequent presenter at national, state, and local conferences and seminars advocating water reuse as being an effective water stewardship and management strategy.
Mr. Plummer started his career as a consultant with the quintessential Texas engineering firm of Forrest and Cotton and later worked for the Trinity River Authority and Hydroscience before he and his wife Peggy established their own engineering firm in 1978. From early in his career, Alan Plummer saw the need to begin planning for new sources of water for the state of Texas, anticipating the stress that growth would place on the limited raw water resources of the state. One of the first projects at Alan Plummer and Associates, Inc. involved the delivery of highly treated effluent from the TRA Central Regional Wastewater System to the prestigious Las Colinas development lakes in the early 1980s. Since that time, he has worked with many clients to develop alternative water resources and to plan for the use of reclaimed water in their long-range planning efforts. When the State developed its regional water plans, Mr. Plummer worked closely with regional water planners throughout the state. In particular, he worked tirelessly in north Texas with Region C, promoting development of sustainable water supply strategies and guiding the role of water reuse and water conservation in the Region C plan.
Mr. Plummer has been and continues to be involved with many professional associations. He joined the Water Environment Federation (WEF) in 1968. He served on several national committees including Plant Operations (1986-1987), Program (1986-1991), Government Affairs Committee (1992-1993), and Water Reuse (1990 to the present). In the Water Environment Association of Texas (WEAT) he served on the WEAT Program Committee in the early 1980s and was a member of the Water Reuse Committee for years, serving as Chair from 2004-2007. He was one of the original members of the North Texas Section of WEAT, serving as vice-president, president-elect and then president from 1990-1991. He was presented the Arthur Sidney Bedell Award for extraordinary personal service to a Member Association in 1999. He also chaired the Regulation Committee for the Joint Water Reclamation Committee of the Texas Section of American Water Works Association (AWWA) and WEAT. He participated in the revision of the State of Texas’s water reuse regulations as a member of the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission Advisory Committee.
General Criteria: