BEACHES TO GET OFFICIAL WATER?

Byline: Douglas Haberman Staff Writer

A little bit of the French Alps may be coming soon to a beach near you.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors is set to vote to approve a two-year contract with Evian Natural Spring Water, making it the ``Official Bottled Water Sponsor of the Los Angeles County Beaches.''

The contract includes an optional three-year extension and board approval is expected, officials said.

For Evian, it's less about tapping into the allure of Southern California's sun-drenched, bikini-flecked beaches, and more about profiting from the dry climate and Californians' health-consciousness, said Evian spokesman Michael Neuwirth.

``There's no `Baywatch' fantasy going on here,'' he said.

California is the largest bottled water market in the United States, consuming one-quarter of all bottled water sold in the country, Neuwirth said. Evian is the largest supplier of imported bottled water in the United States and the largest bottled water company in the world, selling 1.4 billion liters a year in 120 countries, he said.

Los Angeles' beaches, with 60 million thirsty visitors a year, are logical places to sell bottled water, Neuwirth said. The liter bottles of Evian, which is bottled unfiltered at the source in the French Alps, probably will sell for around $1.

This deal is far from a first for the county, which has long traded off the marketing value of its beaches. Other bottled water companies that have paid for the official title in recent years include Canadian-based NAYA and Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water.

``We're taking advantage of the popularity of our beaches,'' said John Wallace, spokesman for Supervisor Don Knabe. ``If we can generate revenues for recreational opportunities for the public, we need to go after those.''

Wrong approach, said Martin Schlageter of the Sierra Club. ``It's only destroying our open space and our public resources,'' he said of the proliferation of advertising on public property.

Local governments should be pushing for revisions in tax laws that now force them to scramble for alternative sources of revenues, Schlageter said.

``Los Angeles County is strong and powerful and should be at the forefront of reforming state tax laws that have starved so many municipalities of revenues,'' he said.

In the Evian deal, the Department of Beaches and Harbors sent out letters to 61 companies that sell bottled water and/or fruit drinks and advertised in six local newspapers. Evian and Coca Cola submitted similar bids but Evian offered a greater annual cash sponsorship fee, department director Stan Wisniewski said in a report to the Board of Supervisors.

In exchange for the official designation and the right to plunk down 30 bottled water vending machines along the beach boardwalk, Evian will pour $75,000 a year into the county's coffers. The company also will:

Donate 200 boards showing the time and temperature, valued at $15,000, for the county's 155 lifeguard stations (the number includes spares).

Donate 50 volleyball nets, valued at $7,500.

Pay 35 percent of its gross sales revenues to the county Department of Beaches and Harbors, a sum estimated to be at least $10,000 a year.

If the contract runs the full five years, it will be worth about $587,000 to the county in goods and cash.

Corporations and business entities since the mid-1980s have vied for the right to link their product officially to the county's beaches.

Commerce-based Authentic Fitness Co. signed a three-year contract with the county in February 1998 to provide $358,000 worth of Speedo swimsuits and volleyball nets in exchange for rights to refer to itself as the ``official swimwear sponsor of the Los Angeles County beach lifeguards.''

Local Ford dealers for years have donated as many as 60 trucks for lifeguard and youth programs. The dealers in return can advertise the Ford trucks as the ``official vehicle of Los Angeles County Beaches.'' This contract is still in place, Wallace said.

The practice of selling a city's or a county's name is not unique to Los Angeles, of course. The city of San Diego has put together a deal, which its City Council is scheduled to vote on shortly, that would make Pepsi the city's official soft drink. Pepsi would pay millions of dollars over the 12-year contract for the right to install its vending machines on city property.

THE BIG SELL

Here are some marketing sponsorship deals by local government:

Los Angeles County is proposing a $587,000 contract with Evian Natural Spring Water to make it the official bottled water sponsor of county beaches

The county signed a three-year contract in 1998, getting $358,000 worth of Speedo swimsuits and volleyball nets, and making Speedo the swimwear sponsor of county beach lifeguards

Local Ford dealers provide 60 trucks for lifeguard and youth programs, advertising Ford as the official vehicle of county beaches

Arrowhead previously paid fees and provided water to be the official bottled water of county beaches and lifeguards.

San Diego is considering a deal to make Pepsi the city's official soft drink. The 12-year contract would be worth up to $23 million.

Source: Daily News research

CAPTION(S):

Box

Box: THE BIG SELL (See text)