Long Beach Water to Kick Off Mission H2O LB Campaign Saturday with Music, Food and More

On Saturday, July 18, the Long Beach Water Department (LBWD) is kicking off its water conservation campaign, Mission H₂O LB, in Downtown Long Beach with its Mission H₂O LB Kickoff Event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Promenade Square.

Participants have an afternoon of grooving, food trucks and fun in store for them—all in the name of rallying the community toward saving water to meet Governor Brown’s statewide mandate.

Saturday’s celebration will feature live musical performances by numerous local musicians, including Avi Buffalo and Bearcoon, in their last performance before their nationwide tour. The musical performances will drive a call to action for residents to take a one song shower.

Additionally, speeches by Robert Garcia, Mayor of Long Beach, Gloria Cordero, a member of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners, Kevin Wattier, LBWD’s General Manager and Frances Spivy-Weber, Vice Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board will reflect upon Long Beach’s progress and future in water conservation.

“Mission H₂O LB is a call to action that sets a challenge for our community to meet the Governor’s mandate while also creating a permanent lifestyle change in how we use water,” said Harry Saltzgaver, President of the Board of Water Commissioners. “The event and broader campaign calls on all residents to take the challenge.”

“I’m proud of Long Beach’s water conservation efforts and excited to be a part of the Mission H₂O LB Kickoff Event,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “I’m ready to take the pledge, along with the rest of Long Beach, to conserve water through my daily activities. We can all contribute—let’s join the mission and continue this strong momentum!”

Participants have the opportunity to commit to water conserving practices by taking a pledge, along with Mayor Garcia. The event site at First Street and The Promenade North will offer a pledge wall where participants can “join the movement” and write out their commitment to water conservation.

Actions such as turning off the water when brushing teeth and taking shorter showers are simple practices residents can incorporate into their daily behavior that will have a huge impact on water conservation. At Saturday’s event, participants will have a chance to explore what they can do to pledge to save water together. The event will also feature Long Beach’s successful Lawn-to-Garden program with a mobile drought-tolerant landscape.

“Long Beach needs to sustain its record-breaking levels of water conservation for the remaining hot summer months ahead of us,” said Kevin Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department. “We all need to remember that small water conserving actions by everyone in the community leads to big results.”

To stave off any hunger, the food trucks StuffNit Burgers and ShareMii will be on board, selling colossal burgers and mouth-watering ice cream, floats, shakes, cakes and snowy ice.

Residents and businesses have shown they’re ready to take the challenge to cut water use by 16 percent until February, as mandated by the state. Long Beach cut water usage by a whopping 19 percent just last month.

The Mission H₂O LB Kickoff gives Long Beach’s already strong and environmentally progressive community a chance to celebrate their conservation strengths. California is in its fourth year of a record-breaking drought. In January of 2014, Governor Brown declared a drought State of Emergency and directed state officials to take all steps necessary to conserve water.

Mission H₂O LB was created to educate the residents of Long Beach on the importance of water conservation and to provide easy-to-follow tips on how we can all do our part.  Together, by joining the mission and making a pledge to save this precious natural resource, we can make a positive impact for everyone in Long Beach today—and in the future.

To learn more about Mission H₂O LB, visit lbwater.org.