Mayor Scott Avedisian will join members of the Warwick Sewer Authority (WSA) to award scholarships to four Warwick high school graduates during a ceremony this Thursday at 4 p.m. in the WSA’s meeting room, 125 Arthur Devine Boulevard. That ceremony will be followed at 5 p.m. with the unveiling of a high water marker donated by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) commemorating the 2010 Flood.

This year’s scholarship recipients are Amanda Smith and Kyle Fitzsimmons from Pilgrim High School and Jenna Mathias and Samantha Collins from Toll Gate High. Amanda Smith, who ranked 14th in her class, will be going to Nova Southern University in Florida with a dual biology/optometry major. Fitzsimmons, who wants to be a conservation biologist, will be heading to Rhode Island College. Jenna Mathias will be attending Brandeis University, where she will study to become an obstetrician and gynecologist. Collins will pursue a nursing degree from the University of Rhode Island.

The scholarships have been given annually since 2003 in honor of the late John A. Caruso, a longtime chairman of the WSA board. Recipients are chosen each year based on certain criteria, including grades, letters of recommendation, participation in extracurricular/community activities and financial need.

“I’m very pleased to join the WSA staff and Board to award scholarships to four very exceptional and very deserving students,” Avedisian said in a statement.

Funds are administered through the WSA’s Industrial Pretreatment Program (IPP), which was established in the early 1980s as required by the federal government. In an effort to protect the sewer collection system, treatment facility, Pawtuxet River and Narragansett Bay, the IPP ensures that wastewater discharge permits are in place for all Warwick-based industrial and commercial facilities that discharge wastewater into the system. Facilities that violate conditions contained within their permit are subject to fines of up to $25,000 per day per violation. Most permit infractions are inconsequential, sporadic, non-compliant events constituting minor penalties ($50 to $100). These minor infractions, however, escalate when a facility is identified as a repeat violator. Each year, the IPP reserves a portion of the collected fine money for the scholarship program, with annual grants ranging from $1,000 to $2,000. A panel comprised of WSA staff and board members reviews the applications and determines which applicant will be the recipient from each of the three high schools.

According to federal program guidelines, the IPP must have a community outreach and education component, said WSA Executive Director Janine Burke. “This scholarship program is one very worthwhile part of those efforts because it helps us to educate future scientists and engineers.”

“From its inception to the present day, the John A. Caruso Scholarship Award program has distributed a total of $42,000 among 24 of our most exceptional, and very grateful, high school graduates,” said BettyAnne Rossi, IPP coordinator. “In these tough financial times, the scholarship money is such a blessing to these students. The sincere gratitude expressed by the parents, especially this year, really hit home for me. I’m so grateful that we can take a ‘negative-fine’ and turn it into ‘positive-scholarship.’”

Immediately following the scholarship award ceremony, the mayor and Board will unveil a plaque to commemorate the 2010 Flood high water mark at the entrance to the WSA Administration Building where the Board meets. On March 30, 2010, the Pawtuxet River crested the levee surrounding the WSA’s wastewater treatment facility, filling the campus with an estimated 75 million gallons of stormwater and wastewater. Floodwaters reached around six feet in the Administration Building. The flood completely wiped out the treatment processes as well as six pumping stations located along the banks of the Pawtuxet River.

The plaque was donated by NOAA. This High Water Mark plaque is the first of its kind to be installed in New England. NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office in Taunton, Mass. and the Northeast River Forecast Center jointly provide high water river stage forecasts and flood warnings for the Pawtuxet River gage, located in Cranston. Several of the NWS staff who worked during the record-breaking floods in March 2010 will be present at the ceremony.

High Water Mark documentation at the WSA was completed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Massachusetts-Rhode Island Water Science Center. The USGS is responsible for operation and maintenance, river stage data transmission, stream flow measurements, real-time presentation of river stage and flow data, and data archival for the Pawtuxet River at Cranston stream gage. The Pawtuxet River gage in Cranston is funded by the USGS and the Rhode Island Water Resources Board.