Water conservation program is major success for district, customers

RIVERSIDE, CA, June 29, 2010 -- Western Municipal Water District created a new generation water conservation program called Smart Yard™. The program launch on April 13, 2010 has been met with fantastic success among customers. Western's target of 525 participants is one-half committed in just the first few weeks of the program.

"We needed a better way to assist customers that would generate meaningful results," said Western General Manager JohnV. Rossi. "I believe, based on the overwhelming participation, we have redefined meaningful to our customers." He continued, "What makes this unique program an instant success is that it targets users who can save the most money by eliminating water waste, shows them how much money they could save and makes it easy for customers to participate in the program."

Customers learn details about the program in the privacy of their home on the interactive web site www.WesternSmartYard.com

In addition to the unique web site, the program funding is designed to encourage participation. Regarding the program specifics, Rossi explained, "Western designed a program where the District pays the full cost of the efficiency upgrades upfront, making it easy for our customers to participate." Western applies a 50 percent rebate instantly. The participant "finances" -- with zero interest -- just half of the product and professional installation cost. Western recovers the participant portion over five years directly on their water bill through a nominal monthly fee.

To accomplish Western's goals of creating a "community buzz" for efficient water use, providing meaningful financial incentives and developing a program with easy customer access, the District entered a partnership with HydroPoint Data Systems. HydroPoint is the manufacturer of WeatherTRAK smart irrigation controllers and a provider of Smart Water Management solutions. "With limited staffing resources, Western needed a turn-key program that could be marketed and administered by knowledgeable professionals in the field of irrigation, climate and technology. It was equally important to implement methods and technologies that have been repeatedly proven to work as advertised. We found what we were looking for in the partnership with HydroPoint," declares Tim Barr, Western's Water Use Efficiency Manager.

"Water efficiency is more and more important every day," cites Barr. "We need to provide conservation services and support for our customers. We also need to recognize that in the current economic climate, customers and agencies do not have the funds we may have had in the past to devote to programs.

This program addressed both the need for smarter water efficiency actions and a partnership with the customer to share the funding. We are truly spending money up-front to save nearly four times more money down the road. The high interest in the program has confirmed our strategy for helping customers and saving water at the same time."

The "Smart Yard"™ program was approved by Western's board and was considered an appropriate response to both a tight economy and limited water supplies. The program was designed to lessen program impacts on Western staff and is fully administered by HydroPoint. HydroPoint has developed a strategic marketing plan, manages the website portal, coordinates scheduling and installation with local licensed landscape contractors. HydroPoint takes all customer calls, conducts site irrigation audits, installs smart controllers and insures customers sign the financing agreement for water bill payments. The fee for recovering the agency financing of customers share of the program is based on the size of the site, controller size and installation time. The customer monthly finance fees range between $9.95 and $18.95 per month. The length of the term may be 60 months. The program is designed to reach customers who can save more on water bills than the monthly finance fee, making it a win-win scenario for the customer and the agency.

"We expect that the "Smart Yard"™ style program will be the customer support program of the future," said Tim Barr. "This is a major step in helping make Western customers water efficient and maintains our fiscal prudence."

To learn more about "Smart Yard"™ go to www.WesternSmartYard.com

Western Municipal Water District provides water supply, wastewater disposal and water resource management to the public in a safe, reliable, environmentally sensitive and financially responsible manner.

###