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First place, High Schools: Sofia Perez Valles, 12th Grade, Olympian High School. Photo: Otay WD poster contest

Otay Water District Poster Contest Winners Illustrate Water-Use Efficiency

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Six student artists from schools in the Otay Water District’s service area were named as winners of the district’s 2020 Water is Life Student Poster Contest. Entries were selected as those best demonstrating creativity and awareness of water-use efficiency through art.

The annual contest is one of many educational programs offered by the district as an opportunity for students to learn and reflect on the importance of water conservation and stewardship. Students are encouraged to create a poster depicting the theme “Water is Life” which relates to using water wisely.

In February 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, the district invited students from elementary through high schools in its service area to participate in the contest. Despite the pandemic forcing many people to work and learn from home, the contest remained open as a stay-at-home activity students could enjoy.

“At a time when most are working or learning from home during the pandemic, it was refreshing to see students, parents, and our Board members excited about this educational, creative, and fun project,” said Eileen Salmeron, communications assistant, and contest coordinator.

Local winners move on to Southern California competition

The district selected first through third-place winners from elementary and high school. The district recognized all winners from each category with a certificate, art kit, and goody bag of items with the Otay Water District logo and a conservation message. First and second place winners also received gift cards.

The Otay Board of Directors honored its winning student artists at its monthly virtual meeting on Sept. 2.

“As I grew up, I started learning that the Earth has an expiration date,” said Sofia Perez Valles, first-place winner in the high school category. “Through this poster, I was able to continue the passion of mine to help save the Earth because I was able to inform people of the different ways that we can support water-use efficiency.”

The six local winners will now compete in the regional Metropolitan Water District of Southern California annual student poster contest for a chance to be selected among entries from participating water agencies and featured in its 2021 Water is Life Calendar. In 2020, district calendar poster contest winner Maya Santana, a fifth-grade student from Wolf Canyon Elementary School, was selected to appear in the regional calendar.

This year’s poster contest winners include:

First place: Zahraa Alzayadi, Fifth grade, Jamacha Elementary School

First place: Zahraa Alzayadi, Fifth grade, Jamacha Elementary School. Photo: Otay Water District

 

 

Second place, Elementary Schools: Amy Coghill, third grade, Tiffany Elementary School.

Second place, Elementary Schools: Amy Coghill, third grade, Tiffany Elementary School. Photo: Otay Water District

 

Third placem Elementary Schools: Sophie Coghill, kindergarten, Tiffany Elementary School. Photo: Otay WD poster contest

Third place, Elementary Schools: Sophie Coghill, kindergarten, Tiffany Elementary School. Photo: Otay Water District

 

First place, High Schools: Sofia Perez Valles, 12th Grade, Olympian High School. Photo: Otay WD poster contest

First place, High Schools: Sofia Perez Valles, 12th Grade, Olympian High School. Photo: Otay Water District

 

Second place, High Schools: Stephenie Pace, 12th grade, Olympian High School.

Second place, High Schools: Stephenie Pace, 12th grade, Olympian High School. Photo: Otay Water District

 

Third place, High Schools: Lucia Perez Valles, 10th grade, Olympian High School.

Third place, High Schools: Lucia Perez Valles, 10th grade, Olympian High School. Photo: Otay Water District

To learn more about the Otay Water District’s annual poster contest and other educational programs, go to otaywater.gov/education.

San Diegans #AskAnExpert Reservoir Recreation Questions

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Reservoir Keeper Viviana Castellon shared her expertise with citizens during the City of San Diego’s #AskAnExpert series on Instagram as part of the City’s community outreach to citizens. The City regularly offers the opportunity for the public to ask employees about its services including parks, libraries, streets, and water.

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A New Kind of College Exam: UCSD is Testing Sewage for COVID-19

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diego by Randy Dotinga

Turds tell tales, and UC San Diego is listening.

As the beginning of the school year nears, the university is preparing to ramp up its testing of sewage for the coronavirus. The goal: Monitor the progress of the pandemic on campus and catch outbreaks before it’s too late to control them. Along those lines, UCSD on Saturday sent out its first campus-wide email alert about the detection of the virus in sewage from one of its seven colleges.

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Arizona Endorses a Company’s Plan to Sell Colorado River Water to Queen Creek

/in , , /by /Arizona Republicby Ian James

Arizona’s top water regulator has endorsed a company’s proposal to take water from farmland near the Colorado River and sell it to the fast-growing Phoenix suburb of Queen Creek.

The plan, which still would require federal approval, has generated a heated debate about whether transferring water away from the farming community of Cibola could harm the local economy, and whether the deal would open the gates for more companies to buy land near the river with the sole aim of selling off the water for profit.

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Bill Will Strengthen and Expand Carlsbad Fish Hatchery Program

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Phil Diehl

A bill passed by the state Legislature and headed to the governor’s desk for his signature will strengthen and expand a marine fish hatchery program in Carlsbad, the only one of its kind on the West Coast.

The new legislation by Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath will update the program and allow it to breed more of the native California species that have been depleted by commercial and recreational fishing over the years.

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How a Plan to Save the Power System Disappeared

/in , , /by /The Atlanticby Peter Fairley

On August 14, 2018, Joshua Novacheck, a 30-year-old research engineer for the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, was presenting the most important study of his nascent career. He couldn’t have known it yet, but things were about to go very wrong.

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As California Burns, the Winds Arrive and the Lights Go Out

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Marcio Jose Sanchez and Christopher Weber

New wildfires ravaged bone-dry California during a scorching Labor Day weekend that saw a dramatic airlift of more than 200 people trapped by flames and ended with the state’s largest utility turning off power to 172,000 customers to try to prevent its power lines and other equipment from sparking more fires.

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`Until the Last Drop’ Flows Nimbly through California’s Water Wars

/in , /by /The Modesto Beeby Garth Stapley

Before COVID-19, before George Floyd, before all the demonstrations and even the presidential campaign, we had water wars.

The threat of losing a substantial amount of river water that our farmers depend on was so startling in the summer of 2018 that 1,500 people from Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties flocked to a well-orchestrated rally in Sacramento. Our elected officials, farmers and regular people vented anger at the proposed “water grab” while the Atwater High marching band brought an air of protest pomp.

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Opinion: Water Recycling Project Fits Needs on Monterey Peninsula Better than Proposed Desalination Plant

/in , /by /CalMattersby Bruce Delgado

Expansion of the Pure Water Monterey recycled water project is the best option for the Monterey region to meet its future water supply needs. Unfortunately, California American Water Co., a private water supplier, is discrediting the project in the hopes of instead getting approval for their much more costly, oversized and environmentally harmful groundwater desalination project to be built in, around and through the city of Marina.

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Cox Introduces $800 Million Water Bill

/in , /by /The Porterville Recorder

Rep. T.J. Cox-D, who represents a portion of Southwestern Tulare County, introduced the Western Water Storage Infrastructure Act, an $800 million bill addressing surface and groundwater storage and water delivery.

The bill is another in a series of bills addressing water infrastructure in the Central Valley that have been introduced in Congress. California representatives Jim Costa-D and John Garamendi-D are co-sponsors of the legislation.

The bill is designed to essentially replace funding authorized by the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation, WIIN, Act, which has been exhausted. The $800 million is more than double what was previously available. The bill also extends the operational and environmental authorities of the WIIN Act to provide continued water supply without adverse impacts to listed species.

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