EL CAJON -- Regional leaders say that exploring the next frontier in water conservation will require shifting the focus of residential landscapes from thirsty turf to drought-tolerant plants.

And San Diego County Water Authority officials hope to move in that direction with the aid of a logo and slogan they unveiled Tuesday at the region's third "water conservation summit" in four years.

The logo is a simply drawn plant with three leaves and a drop of water that looks to be about to fall on the middle leaf.

The slogan is this: "Water smart landscape, a better way to beautiful."

Kelly Mooney, water resources specialist for the water authority, said the slogan was an outgrowth of research that showed homeowners are deeply concerned about how their landscapes look.

"Beauty means everything," Mooney said. "It is the top priority, way before conservation. And it has a lot to do with the perception that San Diego County is a paradise."

Shannon Van Wyk, one of the 360 people attending the all-day summit at Cuyamaca College in El Cajon, said she thinks the regional water agency that supplies much of San Diego County's water is on the right track.

"You have to make it the cool thing to do in order for people to do it," Van Wyk, a real estate agent who lives in Carlsbad, said during a lunch break.

But the water authority will have to do much more than make planting low-water-use trees, shrubs and flowers a trendy thing. Mooney said that's because replacing grass with any number of a wide variety of plants is far more complicated than replacing a fixture inside one's house.

"It's overwhelming," Mooney said. "It's not like changing out a toilet or a showerhead."

And, so, she said, the water authority intends to provide how-to guides to homeowner associations and other community groups as it markets the new logo and slogan.

Getting homeowner associations to buy into the concept will be key, said Shawna Harrison, a landscape architect from Encinitas who attended the summit. Some associations won't let families change out turf.

"That's a huge problem," Harrison said. "It can't all be blamed on the homeowner."

Past conservation campaigns have largely focused on toilets, showerheads and other fixtures inside the house.

And they have enjoyed some success.

Mark Weston, general manager for the La Mesa-based Helix Water District, one of the authority's 24 member agencies, said per capita consumption today is down 25 percent across San Diego County from what it was in 1991 -- at the height of the last drought.

And now, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants the whole state to trim use another 20 percent by 2020.

Chris Brown, executive director for the California Urban Water Conservation Council in Sacramento, one of the summit's keynote speakers, said if the 2020 goal is to be realized it will have to be done outdoors.

Experts attending the conference said about half of local water use takes place outdoors, and lawns require two to three times as much water as other plants.

Call staff writer Dave Downey at 760-745-6611, ext. 2623.