California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
The Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District (USGVMWD) has returned home from the WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas with its first WaterSense Partner of the Year Award for its water waste promotional efforts in 2018. The Monrovia-based water district received one of 25 WaterSense awards for its efforts to defeat water waste and promote WaterSense throughout its geographic area. The awards included nine Sustained Excellence awards, three Partner of the Year Award winners, and 13 Excellence Award winners for helping to advance specific aspects of the WaterSense program in 2018 and contributing to an annual savings of 725 billion gallons of water!
“Upper District is extremely honored to receive this recognition from the EPA. We believe that being a WaterSense partner has truly enhanced our efforts to outreach to the communities we serve,” said Ed Chavez, board president for USGVMWD. “Water conservation remains an essential and cost-effective method for the overall sustainability of the San Gabriel Valley water supply. We have made conservation a critical component of our overall mission and actively engage the public about water use efficiency.”
The WaterSense program, a partnership sponsored by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that seeks to protect the future of the nation’s water supply by offering consumers and businesses simple ways to use less water with water-efficient products, homes, and services. The USGVMWD was honored as a 2019 WaterSense Partner of the Year winner for spreading the water-efficiency message through public education and awareness while transforming its marketplace to include WaterSense labeled products, new homes, and certification programs.
The Upper San Gabriel Valley water district earned the WaterSense award for its numerous promotional efforts in 2018. These efforts included:
- USGVMWD collaborated with a number of different WaterSense partners on events and programs and encouraged all 27 of its water purveyors to become WaterSense partners.
- Throughout 2018, the district hosted nine workshops covering efficient landscaping, outdoor water use, and leak detection and repair.
- In collaboration with Metropolitan Water District, the city of Monrovia, and the California Landscape Contractors Association, a Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance Workshop was held and drew nearly 100 attendees.
- For Fix a Leak Week, the district hosted two leak detection/repair workshops in English and Mandarin to expand its reach in the community and to help meet language needs in the area.
The Upper San Gabriel Valley water district also hosted the 2018, “Water is Life” contest encouraging students to submit artwork that represented water as a valuable resource. The contest received 170 entries from 25 different schools. The district also offered water education grants of up to $1,000 for grades K-12 projects that facilitated a better understanding of water as a vital resource.
“Our partners have made water-saving products, homes, and programs accessible across the nation and have educated millions on the importance of water conservation,” said Veronica Blette, chief, WaterSense Branch. “These WaterSense award winners are leading the fight against water waste to save our most precious resource.”
According to WaterSmart, each American uses an average of 88 gallons of water each day at home. Water managers in at least 40 states expect local, statewide, or regional water shortages to occur over the next several years. Since 2006, USGVMWD and more than 2,000 other WaterSense partners have helped consumers save more than 3.4 trillion gallons of water or the equivalent of enough water to supply all American households for four months.
For more information about the EPA’s WaterSense program, go to: www.epa.gov/watersense.
