The Irrigation Association (IA) won the 2013 WaterSense Partner of the Year award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), making the association the first professional certifying agency partner to win the award.
“It’s an incredible achievement for the association and especially our members,” said Deborah Hamlin, CAE, IA executive director. “As a long-time WaterSense partner, we are committed to promoting efficient irrigation and encouraging industry stakeholders to seek out our labeled certifications—and any labeled products—in the marketplace.”
The WaterSense Partner of the Year award recognizes those who help advance the mission of WaterSense, increase awareness of the WaterSense label in a measurable way and increase the adoption of water-efficient practices among their constituents or community.
Bob Dobson, IA president and WaterSense partner, among other members of the IA staff, accepted the award on behalf of the association at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition Oct. 3 in Las Vegas.
“Our work to promote efficient irrigation does not end here,” Hamlin said. “We look forward to continuing and expanding our partnership with WaterSense to spread the word about why efficiency is a necessary part of all irrigation systems. We thank WaterSense for their continued leadership and focus on water-use efficiency and look forward to many years of partnership ahead.”
IA became involved in the WaterSense program from its inception in 2006 and by February 2007 had received the WaterSense stamp of approval on four of its certification exams: certified irrigation designer, certified irrigation contractor, certified landscape irrigation auditor and certified golf irrigation auditor. To date, EPA has a total of 1,077 WaterSense partners labeled through IA certification programs.
