For Utilities Commission Meeting [October 16, 2018]
TO: Honorable Chairperson and Commission
APPROVAL: Thomas J. Crowley, P.E., Utilities Manager
FROM: Susanne Wilcox, Administrative Analyst
Title
San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District Quarterly Update Report: Receive and File a Presentation on the “Defend the Drop” Regional Water Conservation Campaign.
(RECEIVE AND FILE)
Body
BACKGROUND:
Local water agencies in the San Bernardino region, such as the City of Rialto/Rialto Utility Authority, partnered with San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District (Valley District) on the IEfficient campaign. The iEfficient Public Outreach Campaign (iEfficient) first began in 2014 and generally focused on educating water customers about the need for water conservation, available rebates and important water supply projects such as the California Water Fix. By combining resources, the water agencies are able to purchase more impactful advertising, like billboards, than if they advertised individually.
Since iEfficient began, Valley District has been the contracting agency and has paid 50% of the associated costs, with the remaining 50% divided up amongst the partner agencies. Following each advertising campaign, a survey was conducted to determine the impact of the outreach efforts.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
On September 5, 2017, the Valley District approved a contract with ETA Agency (ETA) to cover professional services to create and implement a 2017-18 iEfficient public outreach campaign.
The goal of the campaign was increased water savings by encouraging water customers to conserve. The outreach was originally envisioned to be a continuation of iEfficient. However, the survey results following the last iEfficient outreach reveal that the public was not recognizing “iEfficient” for water conservation. ETA also recommended a name change could improve the results of the campaign and thereby increasing water savings. For these, and other reasons, the name of the program was changed to “Defend the Drop” with the tag line “Water’s Worth It.”.
A detailed advertising plan and budget were developed for “Defend the Drop.” The total advertising costs was budgeted at $400,000 with the professional services (creative) budgeted for $79,540 for a total cost of $479,540. Valley District provided 50% of the cost of this outreach as one way to help the retail water agencies within the Valley District service area achieve their water use reduction requirements under SBX7-7. As a wholesaler, Valley District is not responsible for meeting these water use reduction requirements, but is required to help the retail water agencies meet their requirements. For the 2017-2018 campaign, the City of Rialto contributed $24,059, which was based on population of the service area.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no Financial Impact from the requested action.
RECOMMENDATION:
Receive and File a Presentation on the “Defend the Drop” Regional Water Conservation Campaign for the Quarterly San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District Quarterly Update Report: