Coachella Valley Water District’s (CVWD) annual budget document for the 2016-17 fiscal year has received the Distinguished Budget Presentation award from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA).

This is the fifth consecutive fiscal year for which CVWD has received this award.

In order to receive the award, CVWD had to publish a budget document that meets GFOA program criteria as a policy document, an operations guide, a financial plan and a communications device. The GFOA uses a panel of independent reviewers to examine the budget documents of award candidates.

“CVWD’s annual budget document reflects the best practices in budgeting and informs the public of the district’s priorities and how they are funded,” said Director of Finance Kay Godbey. “For anyone wanting to know more about our organization, this is a great informational tool.”

The budget is available for review at CVWD’s website, www.cvwd.org. Printed copies are also available for review at the district's Steve Robbins Administration Building in Palm Desert.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association with nearly 18,000 government finance professionals as members throughout North America. The Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in government budgeting. CVWD also received the award for fiscal years beginning on July 1 in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

The Coachella Valley Water District is a public agency governed by a five-member board of directors. The district provides domestic and irrigation water, agricultural drainage, wastewater treatment and reclamation services, regional storm water protection, groundwater management and water conservation. It serves approximately 109,000 residential and business customers across 1,000 square miles, located primarily in Riverside County, but also in portions of Imperial and San Diego counties.