WorldWide Drilling Resource

NGWA CEO Steps Down After More than 34 Years Adapted from a News Release by the National Ground Water Association After more than 34 years of combined employment by the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) and its subsidiaries, including more than 20 as the chief executive officer, Kevin McCray, CAE, informed the NGWA Board of Directors of his retirement as the Association’s CEO effective December 31, 2017. “I am humbled and gratified by the many diverse opportunities afforded me during my service to the Association’s membership, as well as to the larger global ground- water community,” McCray told the Board. “All in all, everyone has been an honor to serve. It has also been my special reward to work beside exceptionally dedicated and member-focused staff colleagues throughout my NGWA career. I am confident I learned far more from them than ever could be tallied. They are NGWA, through and through.” McCray first began work for the Association in 1979 as an assistant editor in its publishing subsidiary. From 1983 to 1985, he worked for an industry manufacturer, and returned to NGWA in December 1985, serving in a number of roles until being named the Association’s executive director in August 1995. He also serves as the chief executive of the Association’s foundation. With McCray at the helm, NGWA has ac- complished a multitude of achievements im- pacting the groundwater community in the last 20 years. Among them are: • Publishing an industry standard in 2014, the ANSI/NGWA-01-14 Water Well Construction Standard. • Developing a set of industry best suggested practices which currently numbers 19 with more in development. • Hosting numerous national and international professional development opportunities, including events in Australia and Panama. • Having NGWA work with several federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on a variety of programming benefiting the groundwater industry and well owners. • Invigorated its charitable foundation, creating several endowed funds which have awarded tens of thousands of dollars in grants and scholarships. • Hosting its largest annual exhibition, the Groundwater Expo in 2004 with 5959 attendees in Las Vegas. • Seeing its technical journals, Groundwater ® and Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation ® , grow in international recog- nition with hundreds of thousands of articles downloaded annually from researchers all around the world. • Developing a program for well owners to become better stewards of groundwater with a website and other material spe- cific to homeowners utilizing water well systems as their daily source of water. NGWA Board President Jeffrey Williams, MGWC, CVCLD, is activating a task group from within the Board of Directors, which will meet to review a recommended transition timetable and related actions, as well as expectations for the future CEO. He anticipates the search beginning in the first quarter of 2017. NGWA is not currently accepting résumés and is not taking calls or e-mails about the position at this time. Williams anticipates the new CEO will assume his or her duties in conjunction with the 2017 Groundwater Week annual meeting and trade exposition December 5-7, 2017, in Nashville, Tennessee. 39 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® DECEMBER 2016 The dipper-Tough water level meter by Heron Instruments, Inc. is a rugged, top-quality instrument used for measuring static and falling head levels in wells, boreholes, waste disposal, remediation sites, and other harsh environments. The drawDown feature on the dipper-Tough makes it ideal for use during pump and treat testing when contaminates are found in the ground- water. Another use is for measuring falling water levels during purging, well development, and low-flow sampling. The hydrocarbon-resistant Kynar ® jacketed, high-tensile steel core tape is embedded directly into the probe body, allowing for longer life of the tape and probe. W DR W photo.