90 Percent of San Diegans Support Turning Off the Water at Waterfront Park

WOC Intelligence survey shows City residents want park water shut off; most feel they are individually doing all they can to conserve water and that businesses should be asked to make mandatory reductions

SAN DIEGO, August 25, 2014 – While visitors and nearby residents flock to the new $49.4 million downtown Waterfront Park, San Diego residents overwhelmingly want the water shut off. A study conducted by (W)right On Communications found that 90 percent of residents living in the city of San Diego support the shutdown of the water playground in Waterfront Park. The results were almost mimicked at the county level, with 89 percent of those surveyed supporting the water playground closure.

“We were surprised to see such one-sided opinion towards shutting down the water playground,” said Hamish Marshall, Director, Research & Analytics at (W)right On Communications. “In a time when everyone in the state is being asked to conserve water, San Diegans are concerned about scarce water resources. The unanimity on the water park could reflect a lack of understanding about the Waterfront Park’s recycled water usage or its newness as a community asset, but it most certainly reflects a theme that emerged from our research: residents feel they are doing a good job conserving water and that others such as businesses should be asked to make further reductions.”

The centerpiece of Waterfront Park, the water fountain playground utilizes 80,000 gallons of water that are continuously recycled at a rate of 3,000 gallons per minute. The water park fountain stores and continually treats all water to minimize water usage. Additionally, the fountain has four operating modes with the “completely empty” mode wasting no water.

When asked to rate their own water conservation behaviors, on average, County residents rated themselves a 4 on a 1 to 5 scale, where 1 is make no effort and 5 is make a significant effort. 79 percent of County residents said that they have changed their water consumption habits since the drought and 89 percent agreed that residents should conserve more water in their homes.

However, when asked whether officials should impose water limits and rations for residents, only 50 percent of County residents agreed that they should be required to limit their water usage at home. 66 percent thought that businesses should be required to cut back.

The survey was produced by recently launched (W)right On Communications’ analytics division, WOC Intelligence, a data-driven decision-making initiative that strategically helps reveal the heart of key issues through expert survey development, implementation and analysis.

An online survey questioned 375 San Diego County residents between July 21 and July 24, 2014. Results weighted by age, gender, income and County region, with the margin of survey error being +/- 5.1%, 19 times out of 20.

About (W)right On Communications

Founded in 1998 in Vancouver, British Columbia, (W)right On Communications is a full-spectrum communications  and public relations firm headquartered in San Diego, California. Specializing in hospitality, healthcare, energy, technology and development, (W)right On has produced results-driven media relations, social media and promotional campaigns and programs for clients including hotels, hospitals, utilities, startups, developers and universities. To learn more about (W)right On, visit www.wrightoncomm.com.

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