Last Chance to Vote for Outdoor Water Conservation Project Entries in Rain Bird’s Awards Program

After nearly five months and over 200,000 combined votes since the launch of Rain Bird’s Intelligent Use of Water® Awards program, the public has just a few days left to cast their votes for their favorite outdoor water conservation project entries, until voting closes on March 15th, 2011.

A social media driven grant program that will award more than $50,000 to water conservation and environmental sustainability projects that promote green spaces, Rain Bird’s Intelligent Use of Water Awards program invites the public to use the final week of the 2011 Awards program to help decide this year’s winning projects through online voting at www.iuowawards.com.

This year’s awards program features an array of different water conservation projects from across the globe, including entries from nonprofits, homeowners, schools, landscapers, facility managers, community organizations, students, weekend gardeners and anyone with a water conservation project that supports sustainability and green spaces.

All projects can be anonymously voted on by visitors (one vote a day per project, per individual user until 11:59 pm PST on March 15th), and the projects that earn the most votes will be awarded a combined $51,000 in grants to be used towards the completion of their winning project. Multiple winners in each funding category ($1,500, $5,000 and $10,000) will be officially announced on World Water Day … March 22, 2011.

“The public response to the Intelligent Use of Water Awards program has been overwhelming since we first launched this campaign in November,” said Dave Johnson, Rain Bird’s director of corporate marketing. “It is great to see people so enthusiastic and passionate about water conservation projects, and in the tight race that it is with just a few days of voting left, it will be exciting to see which projects will utilize the media and social media platforms to rally their voters during the final few days of voting.”

Established in 2008, the annual Intelligent Use of Water Awards program recognizes individuals and organizations whose innovation, leadership, ingenuity and dedication to the management and protection of Earth’s most precious natural resource through improved landscape water-efficiency raises the standard for outdoor water conservation. After three years of honoring individuals and organizations for their completed projects, the Intelligent Use of Water Awards program aims to encourage and fund future water conservation projects.

In developing the program, Rain Bird has assembled a team of partners that share the common goal of helping individuals and organizations make an impact in their community through the Intelligent Use of Water. Partnering in support of The Intelligent Use of Water Awards program are The Alliance for Water Efficiency, The American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA), The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) and the Environmental Institute for Golf (EIG), Golfdom magazine, Growing A Greener World, Landscape Management magazine, The National Gardening Association, Pebble Beach Resorts, Project WET, Smart Approved WaterMark, The Gardener Guy, and The Groundwater Foundation.

For more information on The Intelligent Use of Water Awards, please visit www.iuowawards.com. Become a fan of Rain Bird on Facebook, and follow Rain Bird on Twitter, @RainBirdCorp.