Thornton 'Water Drive,' a water conservation campaign has won national recognition from the National Association of Government Communicators. The Water Drive featured simple and engaging ways for people to save water as well as encouraged people to take action by pledging to save 10-gallons of water each day.

"It's exciting news," says Thornton Communications Manager Heather Lammers. "The award puts us up against not only local government but we're in there with State and Federal Agencies as well. This year, other winners in our category included the Department of Homeland Security and the National Endowment for the Arts. That's pretty tough competition!"

The ongoing Water Drive campaign is a joint project between the City and Worldways Social Marketing. Elements of the Water Drive include bus shelter ads, mailers, in-home reminders, kids' activities, television public service announcements, a Web site, and an information booth at Thornton festivals. The campaign encourages citizens to become water-saving champions by saving ten gallons of water each day.

The campaign is an effort to:

• Raise awareness about the need for water conservation in Thornton.
• Listen to residents to work collectively to maintain the community's water supply.
• Provide practical ways to conserve water outdoors and indoors.
• Enhance involvement in the community to provide information and reinforce ways to save water.
• Promote incentives for water saving actions such as rebates and other services.

As a result of the campaign's outreach, Thornton water champions pledged to save 1,770,250 gallons of water in 2007. "We currently have nearly 600 residents who voluntarily signed up to be water conservation champions," says Water Resources Analyst Laura Wing. "And the drive isn't over, we want to reach 1,000 water saving champions in 2008."

This year, the campaign will continue to focus on water conservation as well as partner with other City "green" efforts. The 2008 Water Drive kicked off at Thorntonfest by sharing a booth with the City's Recycling Program and drew long lines at its Conservation Education Booth.

"We had a tremendous turnout at Thorntonfest," said Wing. "Thornton is a City where conservation is the thing to do. And we're happy to help people set, meet, and even exceed conservation goals for their home."

The National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC) is a national not-for-profit professional network of federal, state and local government employees who disseminate information within and outside government.