DENVER — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today recognized the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District as among 34 awardees across the nation recognized as WaterSense partners at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas, Nevada, for excellence in their support of water efficiency in 2021. Together, the partners helped communities save a total of more than 6.4 trillion gallons of water and more than $135 billion on utility bills since 2006.
The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District received its third WaterSense Partner of the Year Award for promoting efficiency across their service area. To make saving water more accessible, Northern Water donated nearly 200 WaterSense labeled showerheads to the non-profit Energy Resource Center for their retrofits of low-income housing.
“By working to promote the value of water efficiency, our WaterSense partners helped people save water, energy, and money—all while protecting life’s most precious resource during times of drought,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox. “EPA appreciates WaterSense partners’ commitment to being good stewards of water.”
“Congratulations to the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District on receiving their third WaterSense award,” said Governor Jared Polis. “Water is life in Colorado and as we navigate solutions to drought conditions, increasing access for more people to save water is crucial in preserving this important resource. Thank you to the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District and all those working to increase efficiency and conserve water.”
“The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District has been a consistent partner in finding new ways to help people save water,” said EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker. “The District continues to develop innovative conservation strategies that offer examples for western communities confronting drought and climate-related challenges.”
Award winners include utilities, manufacturers, builders, a retailer, and other organizations that promote and sell WaterSense labeled products, build WaterSense labeled homes, and operate WaterSense labeled certification programs. The awardees initiated a variety of new programs, outreach, and education activities to engage customers and promote water conservation with WaterSense.
2022 Sustained Excellence Award Winners
The Sustained Excellence Awards are the highest level of achievement for WaterSense. This year, WaterSense added three new WaterSense partners to this category.
- Athens-Clarke County Public Utilities (Georgia)
- Citrus County Utilities (Florida)
- City of Charlottesville (Virginia)
- City of Plano (Texas)
- City of Sacramento Dept of Water (California)—First-time winner
- Cobb County Water System (Georgia), KB Home (California)
- Irvine Ranch Water District (California)—First-time winner
- Kohler Co (Wisconsin)
- Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District
- Sonoma Marin Saving Water Partnership (California)
- Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District (California)—First-time winner
2022 Partner of the Year Awards
The Partner of the Year awards go to those WaterSense partners who have achieved success in all of the judging categories—strategic collaboration, education and outreach, and promoting WaterSense labeled products and programs.
- Builder: Fulton Homes (Arizona)
- Utility: Big Bear Lake Dept of Water and Power (California), City of Durham Water Management (North Carolina), Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (Colorado), City of Fort Worth (Texas), Harris-Galveston Subsidence District (Texas), Houston Public Works (Texas), and City of Round Rock (Texas)
- Manufacturer: Niagara Conservation Corp. (Texas)
- Promotional: Sonoma Marin Saving Water Partnership (California)
- Retailer: The Home Depot (Georgia)
2022 Excellence Award Winners
Excellence awards recognize those WaterSense partners who have excelled in a specific area.
- Excellence in Education and Outreach – American Water (New Jersey), Department of Water, County of Kauai (Hawaii), Tarrant (Texas) Regional Water District, and Walnut Valley (California) Water District
- Excellence in Engagement and Outreach – The Toro Company (Minnesota)
- Excellence in Outreach and Collaboration – Rancho California Water District
- Excellence in Promoting the EPA Multifamily Water Score – Santa Clarita Valley (California) Water Agency
- Excellence in Promoting WaterSense Labeled Products – The Broward Water Partnership (Florida)
- Excellence in Promoting WaterSense Labeled Products in the Marketplace – Smart Rain (Utah) and Sloan Valve Company (Illinois)
- Excellence in WaterSense Promotion and Outreach – G3, Green Gardens Group (California)
Background
WaterSense, a partnership program sponsored by EPA, is both a label for water-efficient products and a resource for helping you save water. WaterSense seeks to protect the future of the nation’s water supply by offering Americans a simple way to use less water with water-efficient products, homes, and services. WaterSense labeled products are independently certified to use 20 percent less water and perform as well or better than standard models. The program was launched in 2006, and today there are more than 40,000 labeled toilets, faucets/faucet accessories, showerheads, irrigation controllers, and spray sprinkler bodies; and more than 5,700 labeled homes.