The City of Aspen named recipient of the Irrigation Association SWAT Outstanding Industry Partnership Award
FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA (Oct. 4, 2023) — The Irrigation Association has named the City of Aspen in Colorado as the recipient of the Smart Water Application Technologies 2023 Outstanding Industry Partnership Award.
This award recognizes a water provider that has successfully implemented a program focused on partnership building with landscape and irrigation professionals to promote outdoor water conservation. By shining the spotlight on outstanding water providers and their innovative projects, the Irrigation Association works to raise awareness of the value of irrigation within the green industry and the positive impact these types of partnerships can have on our communities.
The City of Aspen is being honored with this award for its work to engage irrigation industry professionals in implementing its Water Efficient Landscaping Standards. Through this project, Aspen dedicated a significant effort to develop and provide robust education and training for professionals in its implementation of new requirements. The city has worked to encourage local landscape contractor participation, including adding course materials and presentations in Spanish and providing training online and remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The City of Aspen has focused on the important role industry professionals play in advancing water conservation,” said IA CEO Natasha Rankin, MBA, CAE. “Through their efforts to educate and train green industry professionals through this project, they have succeeded in effecting significant water savings through sustainable practices and water-efficient irrigation technologies. Congratulations to the City of Aspen for their accomplishments and as a recipient of this SWAT award.”
By the end of the 2021 irrigation season, landscapes covered by Aspen’s Water Efficient Landscaping Standards had exceeded the 50% reduction of gallons per square foot per season goal of the ordinance and had resulted in an estimated annual savings of more than 8,750,000 gallons of water.
The Irrigation Association is committed to partnering with water providers to promote sustainable practices and leverage smart irrigation technologies to positively impact our communities. We are honored to feature these outstanding projects and look forward to continuing our collaboration as we work together to promote efficient outdoor water use.
The SWAT 2023 Outstanding Industry Partnership Award was announced on Oct. 4 during the WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition. Applications for the 2024 IA SWAT awards will open in early 2024. For more information about the Irrigation Association go to irrigation.org, and for more information about the Smart Water Application Technologies coalition and our award winners, go to swatirrigation.org.