York Water Company wins national award for Lake Williams Dam rehabilitation project

The York Water Company has received a national award for the rehabilitation of the Lake Williams Dam , according to a news release.

It was chosen as the 2024 National Rehabilitation Project of the Year by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials.

“The York Water Company is immensely proud of the newly rehabilitated Lake Williams Dam. We knew from the beginning that the team we assembled to develop and create the Lake Williams Dam was award winning, and the recognition from the Association of State Dam Officials (ASDSO) confirms this for all," President JT Hand said in the news release.

"We are honored to join an elite group of dam owners and operators who hold such a prestigious award. This award will be officially accepted in September with pride on behalf of all York Water employees and the team members from Gannett Fleming and Kinsley Construction who were essential in the success of this project,” he said.

The award will be presented to the water company on Sept. 23, 2024 in Denver, Colorado, the release states.

The award is given to "developers of a unique remedial design that advances the state-of-the-art in the field of dam safety and exemplifies the high professional engineering standards that dam safety requires," the association's website states.

"This project exemplifies how contemporary engineering and proactive planning can transform 20th-century infrastructure into modern models of safety, functionality, and environmental stewardship," the association said of Lake Williams Dam.

York Water Company celebrated the completion of the project this year

The water company celebrated the completion of the project on June 3, 2024 with a  "wetting down" instead of a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Employees, officials and others poured glasses of water collected from the original, 1816 water source for York — a spring at Penn State York — over the reconstructed dam. It marked the blending of the past, present and future, Hand said during the celebration.

The $40 million dam took 15 years to complete from the planning to the construction.

The project was dedicated to the employees of the company.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: York Water Company wins national award for Lake Williams Dam rehabilitation project