The Water Authority and its 24 member retail water agencies recognize and thank the following organizations for their support of the 20-Gallon Challenge and actions to help this region achieve its water savings goals.

San Diego Gas & Electric

San Diego Gas & Electric is helping the San Diego region save water and energy by co-funding a program that offers a $175 voucher toward the purchase of residential high-efficiency clothes washers. These machines use 65% less water and 55% less energy per load than standard top-loading machines. The program is co-funded by the San Diego County Water Authority, its participating member agencies, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. A portion of the program is also co-funded by California ratepayers and is administered by SDG&E under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. For more info. click here.

For more information call the Voucher Processing Center at (800) 986-4538. The Processing Center is open Monday – Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

SDG&E also is sharing information about the 20-Gallon Challenge on its website and in customer mailings as part of its “Go Green. Save Green” campaign to promote energy efficiency and resource conservation.

California Landscape Contractors Association - San Diego Chapter

The San Diego Chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Association is supporting the 20-Gallon Challenge by asking its more than 250 contractor members to promote water conservation to their clients and achieve a 15 percent reduction in outdoor water use. The association is encouraging its members to become certified through CLCA’s Water Management Certification Program, the city of San Diego’s Landscape Watering Calculator, and items from the Water Authority’s Smart Landscape program to help achieve these savings. 

San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce

The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce supports the 20-Gallon Challenge campaign through informing its 3,000 member companies across the San Diego region about the need to conserve water. Chamber officials also have supported the 20-Gallon Challenge at Water Authority news events, participating in tours of the region’s imported water facilities, and by publishing an article on the water situation in the winter 2008 edition of Business Action. To read this article click here.


Quail Botanical Gardens

Quail Botanical Gardens supports the 20-Gallon Challenge through its use of recycled water. Scenic trails at Quail Botanical Gardens allow visitors glimpses of many different horticultural habitats, many of which are irrigated with recycled water. Quail has used recycled water for three years and was the first botanical garden in California to use recycled water. Currently, Quail uses approximately seven acre-feet of recycled water annually in its gardens and is expected to expand recycled water use up to 25 acre-feet annually in the near future. Quail Botanical Gardens was recently recognized by the WateReuse Association as the 2007 Recycled Water Irrigation Customer of the Year.

Quail Botanical Gardens also supports the 20-Gallon Challenge through the use of drought tolerant plants and landscapes including artificial turf that is interpreted as an alternative to the water thirsty lawn. In addition, the Gardens is posting the 20-Gallon Challenge information on its website and in its newsletter. For more information on Quail Botanical Gardens click here.



Cassidy Medical Group, Inc.

Cassidy Medical Group, Inc., a medical services provider located in Vista, supports the 20-Gallon Challenge through its participation in the San Diego County Water Authority and Vista Irrigation District’s Commercial Industrial and Institutional voucher program, saving considerable amounts of water.

In March 2006, Cassidy Medical Group replaced their cooling tower conductivity controller (CTCC). A CTCC manages the water that is used in cooling towers. By replacing the CTCC on older model cooling towers, the tower’s efficiency can be greatly improved.

Cassidy Medical Group’s four year average annual usage was nearly 1.3 million gallons. Since replacing the CTCC their usage has dropped to nearly 840,000 gallons, a savings of almost 437,000 gallons annually or more than 34 percent of their previous water use.



Golf Course Superintendents Association of America - San Diego Chapter

The San Diego Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, a professional organization for golf course superintendents and leading suppliers to the industry, is supporting the 20-Gallon Challenge by promoting the campaign to its 335 members in its bimonthly newsletter and on its website.

With the cost and availability of water serving as a major challenge for golf operations, the association is encouraging members to adopt the following water-saving practices: installing in-house weather stations and sensors that adjust irrigation systems to weather changes, utilizing drought-tolerant turf such as bermuda grass, reducing turf use in areas that do not impact golf play, and limiting over-seeding.

Many golf courses already are saving considerable amounts of water through these practices. For example, reducing over-seeding by 50 percent can save more than 4 million gallons of water annually for a typical golf course.



Food and Beverage Association - San Diego Chapter

The Food and Beverage Association of San Diego County is supporting the 20-Gallon Challenge campaign by encouraging its 850 members to only serve water on request at their establishments, which reduces water needed for serving and dishwashing. The chapter also is helping the Water Authority develop and distribute outreach materials to inform employees and patrons about the 20-Gallon Challenge and the need to increase water conservation.



Cox Communications

Cox Communications is supporting the 20-Gallon Challenge as part of its Cox Conserves program with the goal of reducing its company-wide carbon footprint by 20 percent over the next 10 years. Cox is promoting the 20-Gallon Challenge to its employees and customers via its website, newsletter, and billing statements.

More than 2,300 Cox employees will learn more about the 20-Gallon Challenge at the Cox Conserves Launch Event and Employee Awareness Day to be held on March 6.

In addition, Cox is partnering with the Water Conservation Garden through its “We Stand 4” awareness campaign on Cox Channel 4, which focuses on community issues and needs in four core areas: education, health and human services, social services, and the environment. As part of its environmental focus, Cox is working with the Garden and the Water Authority on short TV reports designed to raise awareness of outdoor water conservation techniques.

To find out more about Cox Conserves click here.

For more information about Cox Communications click here.



Jack in the Box

The corporate office for Jack in the Box Inc. supports the 20-Gallon Challenge and promotes it as part of its 'Green Scene' program for its employees, along with other environmentally responsible actions. In February, Jack in the Box held a lunch and learn for its corporate employees to educate them on the region's water issues and give them the tools and resources necessary to conserve water at work and at home.

In addition, Jack in the Box is taking part in the Water Authority's Smart Landscape Grant Programs and will install several weather-based irrigation controllers at its corporate headquarters in Kearny Mesa. Jack in the Box is dedicated to conserving water at its corporate locations around San Diego County and has seen a reduction in water use since joining the 20-Gallon Challenge and using the tips featured on the website, including turning off their outdoor sprinklers during recent rains. For more information about Jack in the Box click here.

Southeastern Economic Development Corporation

The Southeastern Economic Development Corporation supports the 20-Gallon Challenge and promotes the 20-Gallon Challenge in its "Connection" newsletter and on the SEDC website. In Spring, SEDC will hold a "How to Design a Water Conservation Landscape" workshop further promoting the 20-Gallon Challenge. Members of the San Diego Chapter of the America Society of Landscape Architects will conduct the workshop as well as complimentary landscape consultations. For more information click here.

SEDC is educating the public on retrofitting the region’s thirsty lawns with drought-tolerant landscapes while at the same time providing an opportunity to participate in the revitalization of their community at the level of an individual homeowner. Utilizing native or drought-tolerant plants adapted to our climate can create substantial water and cost savings.

Surfrider Foundation (San Diego Chapter)

The Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter supports the 20-Gallon Challenge because conserving water reduces the amount of pollutants that can find their way from our communities into our watersheds, beaches, bays, and ocean waters. Conserving water also reduces pressure on sewage treatment systems resulting in fewer sewage spills and less partially treated sewage that enters the ocean. Surfrider is encouraging greater water conservation through promoting the 20-Gallon Challenge via its website and other communication channels, and by promoting its Ocean Friendly Gardens campaign, which promotes landscapes and actions that use less water and reduce pollution from urban runoff.

California Center for Sustainable Energy

The California Center for Sustainable Energy is supporting the 20-Gallon Challenge as part of its mission to foster policies and programs that promote sustainable and efficient energy technologies and practices. The Center is promoting the 20-Gallon Challenge to its members and the public via its website, newsletter, and as part of events such as Solar Energy Week. For more information click here.

BIOCOM

A reliable water supply is important for the vitality of the San Diego region’s life sciences industry. That’s why BIOCOM, a premier life science industry association representing more than 550 member companies in Southern California, supports the 20-Gallon Challenge campaign for voluntary water conservation and is helping to promote the campaign to its members.

The San Diego chapter of the California Restaurant Association is supporting the 20-Gallon Challenge campaign by encouraging its 1,300 members to only serve water on request, which reduces water needed for serving and dishwashing. The chapter also is helping the Water Authority develop and distribute outreach materials to inform restaurant employees and patrons about the 20-Gallon Challenge and the need to increase water conservation.

Farm Bureau of San Diego County

The Farm Bureau of San Diego County is supporting the 20-Gallon Challenge for voluntary water conservation, because managing the region’s water resources wisely is vital for the health and prosperity of San Diego’s $1.46-billion-a-year agriculture industry. The Farm Bureau is educating its 5,000 members about the 20-Gallon Challenge campaign and is working with its members to increase participation in conservation efforts offered by local water agencies.

Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation

The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation is supporting the 20-Gallon Challenge for water conservation by producing and airing a TV announcement urging the region to save more water as part of its award-winning Community Awareness program. To see the television spot click here.

The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation also is practicing water use efficiency by using a wastewater treatment plant to treat on average about 100,000 gallons of water a day. Water from this facility is treated and disinfected, recycled for landscape irrigation and nonpotable uses in gaming and administration facilities. For more information on Sycuan click here.

If your community group or organization would like to learn more about the 20-Gallon Challenge, water supply reliability, or other critical water issues affecting the San Diego region, visit our Speakers' Bureau web page or contact Teresa Penunuri, Community Relations Representative at tpenunuri@sdcwa.org to request a speaker. The Speakers' Bureau is a free service to the community.