California-Nevada Section American Water Works Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
946114828
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA
Phone
9094817200
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,399,859
Expenses
$4,328,279
Assets
$3,984,991
Liabilities
$1,404,414

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • SUSAN MOSBURG (SECRETARY/EXECUTIVE DIRECT): $198,674 total reported compensation
  • JENNA BLAND (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & EDUC): $164,668 total reported compensation
  • STEVEN GARNER (DIRECTOR OF CERTIFICATION): $147,519 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our passion is to support the drinking water professionals that provide safe and reliable water to millions of people throughout California and Nevada. We do this by providing trusted resources to the drinking water community. Specifically, ca-nv awwa hosts over 400 technical sessions and educational offerings each year, certifies thousands of water professionals in 6 disciplines, publishes source magazine and helps members connect to colleagues, friends, ideas and technology. For over 100 years, ca-nv awwa members and volunteers have impacted the industry with their commitment and dedication to leading, educating, and serving the drinking water community to ensure public health and to provide safe and sufficient water for all.

What it reported doing in 2025

Education department: this department provides training and development needs for water industry professionals since the section's inception in 1920. The section's formal education program is our water college, which provides classes, workshops and customized training courses. The basic and advanced topics include water distribution, water treatment, water quality, water use efficiency, water audit validation, backflow prevention assembly testing, cross connection control, math and safety, and other specialized topics. The section is certified by the international association for continuing education and training (iacet) and has been recognized as a leading education provided in the water industry. In addition to the water college and education offered through our h2oknow 24x7 online training platform, webinars and in-person activities are developed and hosted by our instructors and technical committees. The department continuously evaluates industry trends to ensure the curriculum remains relevant and meets the evolving needs of professionals in the water industry. Attendees in classes receive contact hours or continuing education units (ceu's) towards their professional certifications.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 70% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.4%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 83.5%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.6%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.92; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.8%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.4% of revenue deployed · 83.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 26 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $199K · 29 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $690K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.