San Diego WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Program
DRMcNatty developed a customer facing website that encouraged residents to participate in the Landscape Makeover Program.
Overview
The WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Program is an educational program developed in 2012 by the San Diego County Water Authority in conjunction with MiraCosta College and the San Diego Botanic Garden. The program is based on the first edition of this Homeowner’s Guide and is designed to empower homeowners with the skills and knowledge necessary to convert a turf area into a WaterSmart landscape.As of 2010, all jurisdictions within the State of California adopted a Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance to comply with Assembly Bill 1881. San Diego County Water needed a step-by-step program intended to assist homeowners in meeting the spirit of this ordinance and its 2015 update.
Challenges
San Diego County Water Authority introduced a WaterSmart Landscape Makeover Program that offers $1.75 per square foot for qualified applicants who replace water-intensive turf grass with landscaping that provides several environmental benefits. This program is designed to advance resource efficiency in urban landscapes by emphasizing water conservation and stormwater management.
Solution
In order for San Diego Water Authority to increase participation, they needed an interactive website that would encourage residents to attend classes and/or have access to resources online.
The DRMcNatty development team worked closely with the SDCWA project and IT departments to assess and determine the requirements of the website. The DRM team then provided a draft prototype of an interactive web page developed in a non-proprietary tool-set that could be further maintained, as needed, by the SDCWA staff.
Results
Within a short time frame, the DRM team finalized the interactive webpage into the SDCWA environment which included the flexibility to be maintained and updated by client staff. The DRM team provided a timely and professional solution that allowed SDCWA to quickly deploy a web environment that allowed their customers to take full advantage of this new program. The website is located at: https://landscapemakeover.watersmartsd.org/
