The Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District (District) received its sixth Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WaterSense^® program for its long-standing dedication to water conservation, collaboration, WaterSense outreach, and water resources education. This is the ninth consecutive year the District has been recognized for its WaterSense partnership efforts by the EPA. The District was honored in October during the annual WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas, alongside organizations from across the U.S., for their commitment to promoting WaterSense and water efficiency in 2022.

Some of the successful 2022 education and outreach activities that earned the District another national award include:

• Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the annual Water Drop Dash with an in-person 5k and virtual 10k race with over 700 runners participating. Many utility and community partners joined the District for a post-race, outdoor Water Festival where attendees learned about Fix-a-Leak Week and received free items to help find, fix, and prevent leaks, including new toilet flappers and a “how-to” Flip Your Flapper graphic guide.

• Partnering with the University of Georgia Extension and other regional supporters in July to promote Smart Irrigation Month, drought-tolerant landscaping, and efficient irrigation systems.

• Creating awareness for the National Imagine a Day Without Water campaign in October by partnering with Dad’s Garage Theatre Company in Atlanta for an evening of improv featuring water-saving information, materials, games, and comedy performed for 90 guests. The second half of the show included a panel of water experts talking about how to find and fix leaks, Shower Better, and other fun water conservation initiatives.

• Reaching more area residents through a partnership with Televisa/Univision, Metro Atlanta’s largest Spanish-speaking broadcast network, to help promote the District’s annual High School Video Contest with a “Your Better Bathroom” theme, and continuing the tradition of distributing WaterSense campaign materials in Spanish to share water-saving messages with a broader audience.

• Introducing a TikTok-style category to the High School Video Contest, allowing students to use the platform to create original videos about making their schools more water-efficient.

“We are pleased to once again be recognized by the EPA for our regional outreach to promote water efficiency,” said Danny Johnson, Director of the Metro Water District. “Our goal is to continue building on our past success to inform consumers about the little changes we can all make that add up to big savings to conserve our water supplies and help reduce monthly water bills.” 

Georgia is a leader in efficient water resources management. In January, the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) released its 2022 U.S. State Policy Scorecard for Water Efficiency and Sustainability recognizing Georgia as fifth best in the nation and first in the southeast region. The report, updated every five years, ranks each U.S. state based on its adoption of laws and policies that advance water efficiency, conservation, sustainability, and affordability.

For ways to save and protect water, visit www.MyDropCounts.org.