Formerly known as The Woodlands Joint Powers Agency, the entity responsible for managing a host of local water functions is now known as Woodlands Water after its governing board chose to rebrand at its Sept. 11 meeting.

The organization provides water distribution, wastewater collection, storm drainage management and tax collection services in The Woodlands, according to a news release.

The decision was a "no-brainer" for improving communications and relationships with the public, General Manager Jim Stinson said.

"We held some focus groups ... and one of the topics that came out of the focus group was the name," Stinson said. "The participants feel it wasn’t appropriate ... and those that did know about who we were thought we should change it [because] it didn’t reflect what we do."

The name change is accompanied by a new logo design and plans for changes to its website.

"We’re excited about it," Stinson said. "We think it will absolutely help convey to our customers what we do and improve overall communications. The other name didn’t properly reflect what we do and how we do it. I think it will be a big improvement."

The revamped website will include a customer portal to communicate with customers about outages and other timely information, he said. It will also include individual sites for each of the 10 municipal utility districts it serves.

"Residents will be able to get information on agenda, minutes, other pertinent information on specific MUD that they live in," Stinson said.