CV Water Counts’ Campaign to Conserve

In the summer of 2022, as California entered its third straight year of drought and the Colorado River system experiences record-breaking shortages, the six water agencies that make-up CV Water Counts wanted to expand their regional outreach efforts to include additional water conservation messaging. Specifically, the agencies wanted to leverage the brand recognition of Splash, the CV Water Counts mascot, while elevating the message to stress the seriousness of drought and the importance of conservation.

Working closely with the water agencies, the Hunter|Johnsen team developed the new campaign “Save 15%” across all platforms: digital, television, radio, outdoor, and print (including magazine and newspaper). The award-winning campaign informed residents of (a) the need to conserve water during the time of drought, (b) how many gallons of water each person needed to save per day, and (c) how to conserve the required number of gallons each day, and more – by providing a series of water-wise conservation tips.

Thanks to the continued invaluable support of the media partners of the Coachella Valley – including Gulf California Broadcast Company, Spectrum, Entravision, AlphaMedia Palm Springs, Marker Broadcasting, Lamar Advertising, The Desert Sun | LOCALiQ, CV Weekly, Desert Star Weekly, The Public Record, and El Informador – the integrated campaign, created in English and Spanish, continues to run in 2023, and was recently honored with an ADDY Award from the Inland Empire chapter of the American Advertising Federation.

Since the Hunter|Johnsen team began working with CV Water Counts, Coachella Valley residents and businesses have saved more than 55 billion gallons of water.

CV Water Counts is the nonprofit collaborative of the Coachella Valley’s six water agencies – City of Coachella’s Water Authority (CWA), Desert Water Agency (DWA), Indio Water Authority (IWA), Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD), Mission Springs Water District (MSWD), and Myoma Dunes Water Company (MDWC) – that have joined together for a common cause to create awareness and educate residents, businesses and government on how to be water-wise. For more information, visit CVWaterCounts.com.