On June 8, yearly event will recognize clean water advocates, projects across the county
SAN DIEGO, April 1, 2015 – Want to show off your commitment to clean and plentiful water in San Diego County? Now’s your chance as San Diego Coastkeeper has opened nominations for its 2015 Coastal Champions Awards. An annual award celebration held on World Oceans Day on June 8, Coastal Champions seeks nominations in six categories to honor the people and projects throughout San Diego County that protect, restore and conserve water.
For its 20th anniversary, Coastkeeper says this year’s event will recognize the decades of dedication and the long-term vision required to bring lasting change for fishable, swimmable and drinkable waters.
Coastkeeper asks participants to use its online form to nominate and self-nominate people, businesses and projects for six of the seven Coastal Champion categories. Coastkeeper selects the seventh awardee, Volunteer of the Year, from its core volunteers.
The 2015 Coastal Champions Awards categories include:
- Lighthouse Lifetime Achievement: The Lighthouse Award is for lifetime achievement to advance fishable, swimmable, drinkable waters in San Diego County. This awardee will be selected by San Diego Coastkeeper’s board of directors.
- Volunteer of the Year: In 2014, San Diego Coastkeeper and our region’s waters benefited from the efforts of more than 7,000 volunteers. We couldn’t achieve the successes we do without our amazing volunteers. Each year, the Volunteer of the Year recognizes someone who has truly gone above and beyond. This awardee will be selected by San Diego Coastkeeper staff.
- Find & Fix: The Find & Fix Award is for success in a program, project or idea that first finds a pollution problem and then takes action to fix that pollution problem in the community.
- Blue Tech: The Blue Tech Award goes to exceptional innovation in the development and/or use of technology to protect and restore fishable, swimmable, drinkable waters in San Diego County.
- Marine Conservation: The Marine Conservation Award recognizes efforts to advocate for, monitor and/or implement ocean conservation programs, techniques and innovations including those dealing with fishery management and marine protected areas (MPAs) or other conservation areas of concern.
- Runoff Rockstar: Urban runoff, the leading cause of polluted waterways in San Diego County, happens when water flows over man-made surfaces and carries the accumulated pollution into our water bodies. The Runoff Rockstar Award is for outstanding action taken to reduce urban runoff through best practices, including, but not limited to, low impact development, pollution prevention and urban waste reduction.
- Water Wise: As we face the fourth year of record-breaking drought in California, we must see “water wise” become our new water ethic. The Water Wise Award goes to outstanding achievements in water-friendly landscaping, water conservation and the use of methods to promote healthy environmental restoration with native plants and natural growth.
The deadline to nominate is Thursday, April 30. Coastkeeper staff and board of directors will present awards to the winners at its Coastal Champion Awards breakfast at June 8 at Birch Aquarium, and tickets will go on sale in May.
For more information about this event and to become a sponsor, please visit Coastkeeper’s website at localhost/sdcoastkeeper.
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SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER
For 20 years, San Diego Coastkeeper protects and restores fishable, swimmable and drinkable waters in San Diego County. Visit us online at https://www.sdcoastkeeper.org.
