Design Challenge Winning Projects for the “Design for Clean Water: Stormwater Pollution Challenge” Announced
San Diego, Calif. – September XX, 2025 – The winners of the “Design for Clean Water: Stormwater Pollution Challenge” will be showcased at I Love A Clean San Diego’s Coastal Cleanup Day on September 20 at Robb Field in Ocean Beach. The showcase is part of San Diego Design Week, whose 2025 theme, Design for Impact, calls on designers, makers and changemakers to create bold, purposeful solutions that advance innovation, foster equity and deliver lasting change.
The “Design for Clean Water Challenge”—a partnership between I Love A Clean San Diego, Project Clean Water, and San Diego Design Week—invited participants to propose innovative, creative, and sustainable solutions to combat stormwater pollution in San Diego. Four winning projects were awarded $2,000 microgrants, sponsored by BluPeak Credit Union, which shares the mission of ensuring clean water for all.
The winning projects are:
10,000 SMRT (Stormwater Makes Retained Treasure) Gardens by Jenny Parker: As climate change intensifies, San Diego is expected to have longer droughts and more severe rainstorms and flooding in our city. Nature based solutions involving rain gardens make more sense than expanding our street storm drain systems because it’s an opportunity to reduce stormwater pollution and recharge our groundwater. Rainwater is a valuable commodity in San Diego that we should attempt to retain, not send efficiently to the ocean. SMRT Gardens (rain gardens) will be located throughout the community near streets and parking lots to capture rainwater.
Nature’s Treatment by Delaney Buell and Miranda Lee: A creative animation that demonstrates how bioretention works and highlights its benefits for cleaner waterways. The video uses visual storytelling to explain stormwater pollution and show how natural filtration helps protect our watersheds.
Green Roofs by Thejo Tattala: This green roof is designed to fight rainwater pollution while doubling as a carbon sink and natural filtration system. Resilient, low-maintenance plants absorb rainwater, which is then carefully managed—its pH, temperature, and other qualities monitored and adjusted. The water passes through a specialized chemical filtration system before flowing into a drainage layer, where it can be collected, stored, and repurposed for future use.
Scalable Constructed Wetland and Waste Management Modular Units by Nathan G. White: A quick low-tech, low-cost, modular, scalable natural waste management and water treatment systems that can be deployed in natural or concrete lined canals to divert plastic and trash for collection and removal with soil and landscapes to allow water filtration at the source of pollution prior to commingling with stormwater. These units are adaptable to expansion and replication on demand with the flexibility to reduce the need for large scale centralized waste water treatment facilities. We provide a means to get projects on the ground quickly that creates local long-term construction with long term maintenance opportunities. The ability to couple with floating islands and solar aquatic bioremediation with nature-based solutions are a decentralized template for expansion in our cities and around the world.
Event Details:
Date: Saturday, September 20
Time: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Location: Robb Field in Ocean Beach
2525 Bacon St, San Diego, CA 92107
Coastal Cleanup Day is the largest, international cleanup day with I Love A Clean San Diego leading the efforts in San Diego County since 1985. This year there are 100 locations for volunteers to choose from. Data collected from this event feeds into the world’s largest database on marine debris. To participate in Coastal Cleanup Day visit www.cleansd.org/coastal-cleanup-day/
About the Partners
Project Clean Water (PCW): A county-wide initiative dedicated to protecting and preserving San Diego County’s water quality.
I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACD): An environmental nonprofit committed to inspiring the community to actively conserve and enhance the environment through example, outreach and local involvement.
Design Forward Alliance (DFA): A collective of designers, innovators, and thought leaders driving social impact and sustainable design solutions.
BluPeak Credit Union: Dedicated to building community, inspiring compassion, and being a conduit for positive change by supporting access to clean water as a means of bridging socioeconomic gaps and providing aid to those in need.
