The city of Aspen and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which serves one million residents in eight northern and eastern counties, have each received a WaterSense award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for conservation and efficiency efforts.

“We realize that running a utility is a multi-faceted effort and Aspen is always aware that our resource is finite,” said Lee Ledesma, Aspen’s utilities finance and administrative manager. “Along with EPA WaterSense and our customers, the City of Aspen Water utility works together to conserve throughout the year and particularly in times of drought.”

The WaterSense initiative in part certifies water-efficient homes and products that use at least 20% less water than standard models. There are 2,500 such WaterSense homes and 35,000 product models. There is also a cooperative component with local governments and other entities to promote water conservation.

EPA recognized Aspen for its training courses for landscapers and the accompanying third-party irrigation audits from a city-certified professional that the courses require. The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District received the award for its educational efforts about WaterSense and its conservation work with the 33 municipalities in its service area. The district also cooperated with local colleges and held a Conservation Garden Fair in 2019 that drew 400 attendees.

Altogether, EPA gave out 29 WaterSense awards earlier this month to organizations nationwide.