agenda city of watsonville city council/redevelopment agency meeting

G. Public Information Programs
The City has provided water conservation information to the public since 1995 in the following ways:
- Bilingual water conservation tips and brochures are included in the City utility bills. Copies of
the brochures are included in Appendix E.
- The City regularly publishes newspaper advertisements promoting water conservation and
promotes feature stories in the local newspapers about water conservation. The City also
participates, along with all of the other local water purveyors, the PVWMA and the County of
Santa Cruz, in an education project designed to raise awareness about important water issues.
- City staff participates in local events including the annual Santa Cruz County Fair, the Strawberry
Festival at Monterey Bay, Día de los Niños event, Cinco de Mayo celebration, and Fourth of July
parade. Educational activities and information are provided for children and adults.
- The City implemented a door-to-door educational campaign. See DMM B.
- The City provides videos and books to the Watsonville Public Library on water conservation.
- The City has co-funded the Green Gardener Certification Program at the Watsonville Adult
School since 2008, which has graduated 90 landscape maintenance professionals that live
and/or work in the Pajaro Valley. Irrigation related classes in the Green Gardener program
include water-wise plant selection, soil and water relationships, efficient irrigation scheduling,
and irrigation system troubleshooting.
- The City collaborated with other local water agencies to develop the Watersmart Gardening
website and CD. This interactive tool features low water-use plants and allows users to create
customized plants list that are suitable for their particular sites.
- The LWC program has developed several publications that are given to customers during site
evaluations. These publications contain specific information about maintaining landscapes with
resource efficient and pollution prevention practices along with local resources for efficient
irrigation equipment and sustainable landscaping services.
The City has made an effort to promote its web site as a reference tool and guide for all of its water
conservation programs. The City’s Public Works and Utilities site (http://www.watsonvilleutilities.org)
provides users with the most recent documents and links to the myriad of conservation programs
available to them.
The City will continue to provide information services and materials to inform the public about water
conservation and other resource issues. The City will track the public’s commentary regarding the
information provided to evaluate effectiveness.
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