Rick Skarinka honored with EPA Lifetime Achievement Award

In June 2021, Rick Skarinka retired from his job as manager of the Engineering and Survey Section of the Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau in the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, where he worked for 31 years. In this job, Rick managed drinking water engineers, sanitary surveyors, the operator certification program and was responsible for overseeing 2,500 public water systems in New Hampshire. Rick also played a key role in developing and administering the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan program throughout his career. He often led efforts to respond to natural disasters impacting water systems, ranging from droughts and floods to widespread power outages associated with ice storms.

Rick was a regulator who understood that communication is key to ensuring safe and reliable drinking water. An analogy he shared is that regulation is a moving train and community leaders can choose any of three options: wave as it goes by, hop on board, or stand in front of it. He approaches difficult conversations with respect and a desire to understand where people are coming from. He believes that working hand-in-hand with communities leads to better outcomes.

A hallmark of his efforts with his colleagues at NHDES and water systems is to always encourage long-term thinking to ensure decisions made now will improve the long-term sustainability and reliability of public water systems. Rick always put in the effort to mentor new staff and collaborate with other agencies and programs. He consistently worked with managers of water systems to ensure that local and state elected officials were educated on the challenges and needs of water systems in order to identify options and facilitate solutions.

Rick’s lifetime achievements at NHDES have and will continue to improve and protect the health of New Hampshire citizens by ensuring an adequate quantity and quality of drinking water.