LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Southern Californians learned a lot about saving water during the drought. They shouldn’t let a little winter rain (or even a lot) wash away those hard-earned lessons.
That’s the message behind Metropolitan Water District’s new H2Love water conservation campaign, which launches this week with a 1960s vintage vibe and a timeless message to keep on saving and keep on loving water.
“The drought emergency is behind us and we want to thank the millions of Southern Californians who made saving water a big part of their lifestyle,” Metropolitan General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said. “Now we all need to lock in those savings permanently and make conservation a way of life, rain or shine.”
The $1.3 million advertising campaign features the H2Love logo against a bright blue, water-inspired backdrop that aims to combat conservation fatigue by grabbing attention with a retro design. It also includes new taglines intended to inspire the heart behind conservation: “Loving water means saving water,” “Saving water matters here,” and “Love water. Save water. Always.”
The spring conservation campaign will appear on nearly 500 billboards and transit shelters across the region, many in Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese, as well as on commuter busses and Metro trains. The messaging builds on Metropolitan’s H2Love campaign, which was launched last summer under the tagline “Love Water, Save Water.”
Metropolitan also is an official sponsor of Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy, which will help promote the conservation message at its home games and with its growing fan base throughout Southern California.
“We realize that after this year’s rains, some people may be tempted to relax their conservation efforts and revert to their old water-using ways,” Kightlinger said. “But we can all make sustainable changes in our water use.”
Kightlinger cautioned that Southern California has some of the most volatile weather in the nation and the weather extremes experienced over the past few years may be a preview of what lies ahead under a changing climate.
“Climate change will result in a future of hotter droughts, less snowpack, and increased demand from landscapes and agriculture. That future requires that we all use less water, not just during droughts or temporary emergencies, but throughout our lives,” he added.
The campaign directs people to bewaterwise.com—Metropolitan’s online water conservation portal—to find information on saving water in their homes, yards, communities and businesses. The site offers conservation tips, online water-wise gardening classes, and access to Metropolitan’s rebates for sprinklers, irrigation devices, washing machines, toilets, and rain barrels—all tools that help residents with the permanent water-saving changes encouraged by the H2Love campaign. The website is now available in English, Spanish and Chinese.
Last year’s conservation campaign helped drive traffic to bewaterwise.com, resulting in more than 200,000 unique visitors to the site in August and September alone.
The campaign also will be shared through Metropolitan’s social media accounts, using the hashtag #H2Love.
“We will keep reminding Southern Californians that being water smart isn’t just something to do during a drought. It’s about inspiring a cultural shift in how we value and love water every day,” said Sue Sims, Metropolitan’s manager of external affairs.
Metropolitan will continue its call for conservation this summer and fall with another $3.5 million campaign.
Sustainable, long-term conservation remains a pillar of Metropolitan’s water supply reliability plan. By 2040, conservation and recycling will account for one-third of its water portfolio under the agency’s Integrated Water Resources Plan, which guides long-term water management policies.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving nearly 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.
