National Rural Water Association (NRWA) presented one of its highest accolades to Ernie Faucett, retired National Director from the State of Arkansas.  Faucett was honored for his years of dedication to the rural water family with the prestigious Rural Water Star Award, presented to him at the Arkansas Rural Water Association’s (ARWA) 30th Anniversary Conference on October 29, 2007.
     The award is presented to individuals who have gone above and beyond the everyday call of service and dedication; people to whom rural water is more than just a job, more than just a means to an end. Faucett spent over 30 years as the national board member representing Arkansas on the NRWA board and was one of the founders of ARWA.  He served two terms as President of the National Association and was the longest serving president in ARWA’s history.  He also served several years as Chairman of ARWA’s board of directors. Faucett took great pride in representing the needs of small water and waste water systems on the state and national level.
     Besides the Rural Water Star award, Faucett has received many other awards and honors including, NRWA "Man of the Year" in 1990 and again in 1996, one of the few people to ever be recognized twice. The National Rural Water Association is a non-profit federation of State Rural Water Associations.  Its mission: to provide state associations with support services to meet the needs of their membership.  NRWA is America’s largest utility association with over 26,292 members.
     Historically, NRWA’s and their member state associations have trained over 60,000 water and wastewater system personnel each year for over two decades.  They also provide over 100,000 on-site technical assistance visits a year.