The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the California Water Efficiency Partnership with a 2021 WaterSense Excellence Award for its dedication to helping consumers and businesses save water, even with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. CalWEP was recognized today for promoting WaterSense and water efficiency throughout 2020 during the WaterSmart Innovations (WSI) Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas, along with 33 other utilities, manufacturers, builders, retailers, and other organizations that partner with WaterSense to promote water-efficient products, homes, and programs.
WaterSense, a voluntary partnership program sponsored by EPA, is both a label for water-efficient products and homes and a resource for helping consumers learn ways to save water. Since the program started in 2006, WaterSense labeled products have helped consumers and businesses save 5.3 trillion gallons of water—enough water to supply all households in the United States with water for 200 days! In addition to water savings, WaterSense has helped reduce the amount of energy needed to heat, pump, and treat water by 603 billion kilowatt hours and save $108 billion in water and energy bills.
“In 2020, our WaterSense partners continued to make saving water possible by educating consumers and businesses about WaterSense and water-efficient behaviors,” said Veronica Blette, the WaterSense program manager. “Our award winners’ creative and committed approaches to water conservation helped consumers save water, energy, and money on their utility bills at a time when they needed it most.”
WaterSense honored CalWEP as a 2021 Excellence Award winner for growth in their Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper (QWEL) Certification Program.
“CalWEP is honored to receive our first WaterSense Award for Excellence in Certification Program Growth," said Tia Fleming, Co-Executive Director of CalWEP. "We are proud of our work transitioning our QWEL program to successful online trainings. Through this transition, we’ve been able to reach more professionals and provide high quality content safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
For more information about CalWEP's QWEL program, visit www.calwep.org/qwel
For more information about WaterSense, visit www.epa.gov/watersense.
