The Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District (Upper District) has been honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the 2020 WaterSense Partner of the Year Award for its efforts to defeat water waste and promote WaterSense in 2019.
Upper District was honored as a 2020 WaterSense Partner of the Year winner for spreading the water-efficiency message through public education and awareness while transforming the marketplace to include WaterSense labeled products. Upper District’s efforts included initiating a collaborative effort to translate some of the WaterSense materials into Mandarin. Upper District also engaged the commercial sector through water-smart landscape equipment retrofits and offering new workshops on finding and fixing leaks for San Gabriel Valley businesses. Financial incentives for WaterSense labeled products in Upper District’s service area included rebates for approximately 400 tank-type toilets, over 200 flush valve toilets, and nearly 400 weather-based irrigation controllers.
In keeping with its innovative leadership, Upper District introduced a Residential Plant Voucher Program that provided 175 vouchers, each redeemable for up to $250, to encourage homeowners to choose native, climate-appropriate plants to create attractive landscapes that require less frequent watering.
“We are extremely proud to be recognized in water conservation for a second year in a row as Upper District celebrates its 60th Anniversary,” said Ed Chavez, board president for Upper District. “We have come a long way in water management for our region with water conservation programs and outreach becoming key components of our water supply portfolio. We look forward to providing more innovative conservation programs to the San Gabriel Valley with WaterSense as a key partner.”
WaterSense, a partnership program sponsored by the EPA, seeks to protect the nation’s water supply by offering consumers and businesses simple ways to use less water with water-efficient products, homes, and services. For more information about WaterSense, visit epa.gov/watersense.
