Case Study: Association of California Water Agencies achieves uninterrupted communication during the COVID-19 lockdown with RingCentral

How the Country’s Largest Nonprofit Water Coalition Kept Communication Flowing During the Lockdown

The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) is a Sacramento‑based nonprofit that represents more than 450 local water agencies and advises on policy, regulation, and emergency communications for California’s 40 million residents. With just 45 employees and a nonprofit budget, ACWA was hampered by an aging on‑premises phone system: routine tasks were cumbersome, field staff were hard to reach, and the organization lacked the flexibility to support a new headquarters move or sudden shifts to remote work.

ACWA migrated to RingCentral’s cloud phone and messaging platform, enabling staff to make and receive business calls from smartphones and laptops, update call routing and greetings in minutes, and use built‑in team messaging for IT support. The solution was easy for all users to adopt, allowed ACWA to maintain uninterrupted service during the COVID‑19 lockdown, and kept the organization connected to member agencies, media, and policymakers when reliable communication was most critical.

Association of California Water Agencies

Christopher Do

Chief Technology Officer