PIERRE -The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) announced today that the City of Avon public water system and the system's operation specialists have been awarded a Secretary's Award for Drinking Water Excellence.

"Consistency leads to success and consistent success is a true measure of excellence," said DANR Secretary Hunter Roberts. "With more than 10 years of consecutive compliance, the City of Avon has demon strated its commitment to providing its customers with safe and reliable drinking water. " The system's operations specialist is Allen Kocmich.

To qualify for the Secretary's Award for Drinking Water Excellence, public water systems and their system operations specialists had to meet all of the compliance monitoring and reporting requirements, drinking water standards, and certification requirements for ten consecutive years or more.