May 21, 2019
The Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) and the Wyland Foundation are excited to announce that the City of San Clemente has been named the 2019 winner of a water-efficient demonstration garden – or pocket park – for their community’s stellar participation in the 8th annual Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation. The public park will serve as an open model for water-wise landscaping and smart irrigation, and will demonstrate to visitors that with the right design, plant palette, and watering equipment, any outdoor space can be functional, efficient, and beautiful.
“We congratulate the historic town of the Nixon Western White House, the City of San Clemente and their citizens for their unwavering commitment to use water more efficiently,” says MWDOC Board President Brett R. Barbre. “Protecting our water resources now, and for future generations is a responsibility we all share, and this year San Clemente is leading the way.”
Each April, cities across the nation compete in the Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation (National Challenge or Challenge). This noteworthy, month-long competition encourages people from coast-to-coast to make a series of mindful pledges to use water more wisely. This year, Orange County secured nearly 30,000 total pledges, which is equivalent to a potential savings of nearly 105 million gallons of water. Since the introduction of the OC Breakaway Competition in 2017, Orange County participation in the National Challenge has increased by more than 15,000 pledges – a growth of nearly 27 million gallons of water pledged to be saved by OC citizens.
For the 2019 Challenge, the City of San Clemente alone collected almost 2,700 pledges from community members committing to reduce the city’s water use by over 9 million gallons from now until next April when the Challenge begins again. Additional top performing OC cities include Laguna Beach, Irvine, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Niguel. Together, these OC cities pledged to save nearly 55 million gallons of water over the next year.
MWDOC, the Wyland Foundation, and their participating sponsors and partners wish to congratulate and sincerely thank all Orange County citizens who participated in this year’s Challenge. The numbers from the 2019 competition clearly show that OC IS water smart.