That’s what my mom used to say while cajoling me into helping with household chores. The same principle applies to water conservation. Achieving Metropolitan’s aggressive goals for water-use efficiency will not be easy, but through the power of partnership—applying extra sets of willing hands—we can get the task done.

That power is already evident. The tiny seeds of the California FriendlyTM concept have burst forth into full flower at new housing developments from a host of builders—Shea, Lennar, KBHome, Pardee and others. These builders have taken the hand of partnership extended by Metropolitan and member water agencies, with support from our partner, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Some of the state’s cutting-edge practices on water-use efficiency stem from a landmark agreement crafted by the California Urban Water Conservation Council. This 15-year-old voluntary partnership has grown to include more than 100 public agencies and many leading environmental and public interest groups, with increasing representation from business and trade organizations. What this partnership has established through its Best Management Practices for urban water efficiency has set a national standard that’s the envy of conservationists and water suppliers in many other states.

These thriving partnerships teach us a simple lesson: When a variety of interests work toward overlapping or even identical goals, voluntary cooperation always beats working separately. By doing projects together, we learn from each other’s experiences in different fields of endeavor. Private companies, non-profit organizations, and public agencies each bring different abilities and strengths to this effort.

These aspects of a successful partnership are evidenced by the California Friendly homes program in the Inland Empire. Metropolitan staff found an open door at the housing industry’s trade group, the Building Industry Association. This led to several months of discussion and learning and building relationships with individuals at several companies. Their knowledge of the housing market and their own customers was invaluable to nurturing a fledgling program, now just beginning to soar.

Good examples of successful partnerships abound, but many significant ones still must be formed. The energy sector in particular is ripe for tapping the power of partnership. Electric and gas utilities have long offered programs to assist customers with energy conservation, some of which is focused on saving hot water. However, there are energy savings in water long before you heat it up. At Metropolitan, we have worked vigorously with Southern California Edison to manage our power demands, shifting pumping to off-peak times, for example. Recently these companies and energy regulators have shown tremendous interest in the potential energy savings from water efficiency. Much of this potential lies in reductions of pumping water, but there are other possible savings as well.

Cities and urban planners are important partners if we are to achieve the full potential of conservation. We’d like to work with them on bringing down barriers to the beautiful efficiency of California Friendly landscaping with native and climate-appropriate plants. In partnership with cities, we should broaden plumbing standards to permit installation of super-efficient fixtures like waterless urinals. Other potential partners include flood control and sanitation agencies, public health agencies, and the list continues.

When cities and water agencies work together to reduce landscape water use, it provides long-term drought protection, but it also means less wastewater flowing to the sea. When water districts, businesses and sanitation districts put in efficient conservation and water recycling devices, it reduces the burden on our sewer systems while reducing demand for drinking water supplies.

The environmental community also brings much to the table in this area. The Los Angeles-based organization Tree People calculates astonishing multiple benefits from very achievable landscaping and storm water management practices. The benefits far outweigh the costs, when viewed from a complete perspective; but they will only become widespread through the power of partnership involving water, flood, urban planning, and participation of non-profit organizations.

We often hear calls for mandating conservation practices, and in some instances a legislative or regulatory mandate can be a good thing. Society benefits from mandated efficiency standards for home fixtures or appliances, such as efficient toilets and showerheads. But we shouldn’t overlook the enormous, untapped potential of the collaboration built on mutual benefits. Let’s give voluntary partnerships the chance to show their power.