Rain Bird is now seeking nominations for its 2009 Intelligent Use of Water Awards. Emanating from the same ideals that support Rain Bird’s core commitment to The Intelligent Use of Water, this competition seeks to bring about a greater knowledge and awareness of the need for water conservation.
This year’s competition will include two award categories: the Leadership Award and the State of the Union Award. Nominations for both awards are currently being accepted online at http://www.rainbird.com/iuow/award.htm. The nomination deadline for both award categories is July 31, 2009.
Open to both consumers and professionals, the Intelligent Use of Water Leadership Award honors persons or organizations whose innovation, leadership, ingenuity and implementation of landscape water-efficiency practices has raised the standard for outdoor water conservation. Following the close of the nomination period, an independent panel of judges will select five finalists. The recipient of the 2009 Intelligent Use of Water Leadership Award will receive $10,000 and will be featured in a short film highlighting the recipient’s contributions to outdoor water conservation. The award will be presented and the film shown at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 7-10, 2009.
The Intelligent Use of Water State of the Union Award recognizes U.S. city and state municipalities and water agencies that excel in implementing effective landscape water efficiency and conservation programs and initiatives. After the deadline for nominations has passed, five winners will be selected by an independent panel of judges and announced at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 7-10. These winners will also be awarded positions as panelists on Rain Bird’s Intelligent Use of Water Summit XI, to be held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in April 2010. As panelists, they will have the opportunity to showcase their award-winning case studies to an audience of U.S. and international water management leaders.
The 2009 Intelligent Use of Water Awards will be judged by an esteemed panel of landscape and water-efficiency experts, each with a unique understanding of the relationship between better landscape designs and reduced landscape water waste. Judges for the 2009 Intelligent Use of Water Awards are:
Dan Stark, Executive Director of the American Public Gardens Association
Marty Eberhardt, Executive Director of The Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon, California; Winner of the 2007 Intelligent Use of Water Award
Denis Gourdeau, Water Management Coordinator, City of Calgary Parks, Alberta, Canada
Christopher S. Gray, Sr., Golf Course Superintendent at Marvel Golf Club in Benton, Kentucky; Winner of the 2008 Intelligent Use of Water Award
For more information about the 2009 Intelligent Use of Water Awards, or any of Rain Bird’s other initiatives aimed at raising water conservation awareness, visit http://www.rainbird.com/iuow.