Pure Water Soquel logo wins Calif. design award

Last week, the Soquel Creek Water District’s new “butterfly” logo for its Pure Water Soquel project earned the Award of Distinction from the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO).

The Award of Distinction is part of CAPIO’s annual Excellence in Public Information and Communications (EPIC) awards program. The logo was developed by District staff last year to enhance the branding of Pure Water Soquel and be representative of the local area with a memorable, vibrant, and recognizable image.

“The recognition this award brings is very meaningful for the District by validating and reinforcing our efforts to advance public awareness of Pure Water Soquel,” said Ron Duncan, the District’s General Manager. “Pure Water Soquel is crucial to ensuring a sustainable water supply for the community. An award-winning, attractive, and memorable logo helps people to distinguish and recognize the project, and ideally leads them to be better informed about our water supply challenges and how Pure Water Soquel is addressing those challenges.”

CAPIO’s EPIC awards program recognizes creative and effective efforts by public agencies in the areas of communication and marketing campaigns, newsletter production, photography, special events, writing, website development, and video production. In receiving this award, the new Pure Water Soquel logo is acclaimed and honored by some of California’s top communicators in the public sector.

Becca Rubin, the District’s Public Outreach Coordinator, designed the unique butterfly logo, which incorporates the words “Water Transformed.”

“Butterflies are associated with our local area and in many ways represent transformation, transition, change, hope, and life. In those respects, Pure Water Soquel — and how it transforms water — is very much like a butterfly,” notes Rubin. “And, of course, water is the very source of life and renewal. We’re honored to receive this award and are proud of the work that we do to inform and educate the community about Pure Water Soquel.”

The Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater basin is the sole source of fresh water for the local community served by the District. Classified as one of 21 basins in California that are critically overdrafted by the state’s Department of Water Resources, this condition has led to active, confirmed seawater contamination occurring along the coastline, and the State has mandated the basin be restored to sustainability by 2040.

To address the basin’s overdraft and seawater intrusion issues, the Pure Water Soquel project will take recycled wastewater from the Santa Cruz Wastewater Treatment Facility, treat it to drinking water standards at a new state-of-the-art advanced water purification facility, and then pump it underground to replenish the groundwater basin. This process will raise the groundwater to protective levels to prevent further seawater contamination and contribute to the region’s drinking water supply. By beneficially reusing recycled water, this project will also reduce ocean discharge of treated wastewater to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.