The award, co-sponsored by Local Government NSW, the NSW Water Directorate and the Department of Industry - Water, recognised Riverina Water for, among other things, the development of its Integrated Water Cycle Management Strategy.

The accolade came as a pleasant surprise for the team as there is no nomination process, instead the judges assess all NSW councils before selecting the finalists and winner.

"Being named as the Sam Samra Award winner for 2021-22 was a welcome surprise," said Riverina Water's Chair Cr Tim Koschel.

"This is one of the most significant awards a council can receive. Our community should be proud to know their drinking water is being supplied to the highest standard at an affordable rate - now and into the future."

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Riverina Water CEO Andrew Crakanthorp said the award is humbling.

"The whole organisation is very excited and humbled to be recognised by the NSW government for the achievements we've made during 2021-2022," he said.

The judges also highlighted Riverina Water's planned $22 million solar generation project and the upgrading of its telemetry system to a digital radio network as key achievements.

Mr Crakanthorp believes the $2 million investment in the new customer-centric enterprise software platform was also a key draw for the judges.

"It's going to transform the way we interact by putting the customer at the centre of everything we do," he said.

"To be recognised in this way is the highest honour and highlights the important steps we have taken in recent years to achieve our goals, backed by the development and implementation of strategy and long-term planning."

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