Irrigation giant Rain Bird has launched its Intelligent Use of Water awards scheme, a grant programme that aims to award more than US$50,000 to water conservation and environmental sustainability projects that promote green spaces

Would-be participants should log on to the awards' website, choose a funding category, describe the project, upload photos or embed YouTube videos, and then convince friends, family and others to vote for them through online social networks using the site’s built in sharing functions. Submitters can also use the scheme’s Facebook application to update their status with a reminder to vote for their project each week. Winners will be announced on World Water Day, 22 March 2011.

“We are very excited about this year’s program as we have created a platform in which the general public will be able to decide on which projects receive the funding,” said Dave Johnson, Rain Bird’s director of corporate marketing. “The interactive approach to this year's program will serve a broader range of projects that seek to intelligently manage water and preserve green spaces.”

Rain Bird’s partners in the scheme include the American Society of Golf Course Architects, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and the Environmental Institute for Golf.