City of San Clemente Wins 8th Annual Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation

A water-efficient demonstration garden – or pocket park – has earned the city of San Clemente the 8th Annual Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation. Each April, cities across the nation compete in the Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation. This noteworthy, month-long competition encourages people from coast-to-coast to make a series of mindful pledges to use water more wisely.

San Clemente’s pocket park will serve as an open model for water-wise landscaping and smart irrigation. It will serve as a demonstrate site for visitors and let them see that with the right design, plant palette, and watering equipment, any outdoor space can be functional, efficient, and beautiful. The Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) and the Wyland Foundation recently announced the city of San Clemente as the winning city.

“We congratulate the historic town of the Nixon Western White House, the City of San Clemente and their citizens for their unwavering commitment to use water more efficiently,” says MWDOC Board President Brett R. Barbre. “Protecting our water resources now, and for future generations is a responsibility we all share, and this year San Clemente is leading the way.”

In this most recent Challenge, Orange County secured nearly 30,000 total pledges, which is equivalent to a potential savings of nearly 105-million gallons of water. Since the introduction of the OC Breakaway Competition in 2017, Orange County participation in the National Challenge has increased by more than 15,000 pledges – a growth of nearly 27-million gallons of water pledged to be saved by OC citizens.

The numbers from the 2019 competition clearly show that Orange County residents are water smart. The City of San Clemente alone collected almost 2,700 pledges for the 2019 Challenge from community members committing to reduce the city’s water use by over nine-million gallons from now until next April when the Challenge begins again. Other top performing Orange County cities include Laguna Beach, Irvine, Laguna Niguel, and Mission Viejo, Combined, these Orange County cities have pledged and anticipate saving upwards of 55-million gallons of water over the next year.