Even though temperatures rarely drop below freezing in most parts of Southern California, many people overlook winter when it comes to caring for their native plants and traditional landscapes. There are many things that can help keep landscapes healthy and water-efficient, especially during the winter months when there is more natural rainfall. One of these things is to use a layer of mulch to prevent water loss and insulate landscapes during colder times.
Six talented San Diego County artists from the region’s schools are among the 36 Southern California students whose artwork will appear in the 2021 “Water Is Life” Student Art Calendar.
Six students from the San Diego region were selected from 13,000 entries to appear in the 2021 “Water Is Life” calendar. Photo: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Produced by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the “Water is Life” Student Art Calendar showcases student artwork with imaginative water conservation and water resource stewardship messages. Students in grades K-12 submitted artwork through participating member agencies, after winning their local competition.
This year, the six regional winners, their families, and member agency representatives participated in a virtual award ceremony to honor their achievements on Dec. 17.
Jose Sabedra’s winning entry appears on the June 2021 calendar page. Photo: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Art from Jose Sabedra, a fourth-grader from Bostonia Language Academy and Mina Saeed, also a fourth-grader at Lexington Elementary School, appear in the calendar. They won the Helix Water District competition. Sabedra’s teacher is Sara Meier, and Saeed’s teacher is Holly Hemming. June features Sabedra’s art and Saeed’s winning work covers September.
Mina Saeed’s winning entry appears on the September 2021 calendar page. Photo: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
“We are always impressed by the creativity and talent of the student artists from our district, and this year was no exception,” said Jennifer Bryant, Helix Water District director of administrative services. “Congratulations again to Jose Sabedra and Mina Saeed – we are proud to see your water conservation artwork represent Helix in MWD’s 2021 Water is Life calendar.”
Lucia Perez Valles’ winning entry appears on the July 2021 calendar page. Photo: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Sisters Lucia Perez Valles and Sofia Perez Valles both have winning artwork from the Otay Water District in the 2021 calendar. Both attend Olympian High School. Lucia is a sophomore, and Sonia is a senior. Lucia’s art appears on the July page, and Sonia’s appears in November.
Sofia Perez Valles’ and Sarah Bernier’s winning entries appear on the November 2021 calendar page. Photo: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
“It is important to provide this opportunity to students in our service area, especially during the pandemic because water education is always important,“ said Eileen Salmeron, Otay Water District communications assistant. “We’re proud of all the participants from Otay, including the Valles sisters, for demonstrating their awareness of how essential water is to our everyday quality of life.”
From the Padre Dam Municipal Water District competition, sixth graders Sarah Bernier at Joan MacQueen Middle School in Kim Asfazadour’s class, and Violet Jacobson at Hill Creek Elementary School in Mrs. Kelly’s class both have posters in the calendar. Bernier’s art appears on the November page, and Jacobson’s on the December page. This is the second year in a row Violet Jacobson’s artwork appears in the MWD regional calendar.
Violet Jacobson’s artwork appears on the December 2021 calendar page. She is a two-time winner. Her artwork also appeared in 2020. Photo: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
“I am so proud of the talented students who are representing Padre Dam in the 2021 Water is Life Calendar,” said Emma Shea, Padre Dam Municipal Water District communications coordinator. “These young artists have done a fantastic job at portraying the importance of water conservation as a way of life.”
The “Water is Life” Student Art Calendar curates student art submitted from grades K-12 that carry a conservation message. Hundreds of entries are judged and 36 are featured in the annual calendar, which is distributed to about 13,000 recipients each year.
The Helix Water District honored local student artists within its service area for their winning “Water Is Life” posters at a virtual awards ceremony during the District’s board meeting on October 28. Helix promotes the contest to all elementary schools within its service area. This year, 174 students from 14 schools submitted posters depicting how to use water wisely.
Six student artists representing three schools in the City of Escondido are the 2020 winners of the City’s annual “Love Water, Save Water” poster contest. For 29 years, the City of Escondido has provided local fourth-grade students in its water service area the opportunity to illustrate water stewardship through artwork and creativity
Six student artists representing three schools in the City of Escondido are the 2020 winners of the City’s annual “Love Water, Save Water” poster contest.
For 29 years, the City of Escondido has provided local fourth-grade students in its water service area the opportunity to illustrate water stewardship through artwork and creativity. The contest is held in partnership with other North County water agencies to promote water conservation and water pollution prevention.
Students must enter their original work with no trademarked characters. They are encouraged to use lots of color and to avoid leaving empty space. Entries are judged on the depiction of the theme, originality, and poster design. Posters cannot be computer-generated.
First place: Gracie Scher, Quantum Academy. Photo: City of Escondido
Second place: Filip Kupiec, L.R. Green Elementary. Photo: City of Escondido
Third place: Angelaiya Nazareno, St. Mary School. Photo: City of Escondido
The top three winning posters will appear in the 2021 North County water awareness calendar.
Taylor Lampman, Quantum Academy. Photo: City of Escondido
Jacob Marshall, Quantum Academy. Photo: City of Escondido
Lilly Gibbs, St. Mary School. Photo: City of Escondido.
The City of Escondido supports local public and private schools by providing the Water Science Education Program to elementary and afterschool programs. The program teaches water science to raise awareness of Earth’s resources through interactive and collaborative activities supplementing each school’s science curriculum and to help meet Next Generation Science Standards. The annual poster contest is part of the program.
Students who will be in fourth grade in the 2020-2021 school year can start planning their entry. The annual deadline is in April. The City of Escondido website has contest rules and the entry form.
Each year, the Fallbrook Public Utility District’s water storage tank uphill from South Mission Road is painted with new numbers. There’s a story about local Fallbrook history behind the fresh design on the “Rattlesnake Tank.”
The Fallbrook Public Utility District changes the painted numbers on the tank to reflect the year incoming seniors at Fallbrook High School will graduate. Staff recently painted over the “20,” changing it to “21” to welcome the graduating class of 2021.
The reason for the annual external makeover dates back 35 years. Before painting the tank, Fallbrook High seniors took on a longstanding dare. They would climb up the hill in the middle of the night, scale the tank and then paint it themselves.
“Since it’s a long way down, our staff of more than 35 years ago became concerned for their safety,” said Fallbrook PUD’s Noelle Denke. “So we installed a fence around the tank.”
But it didn’t deter the energetic students. Instead, they began jumping the fence in the middle of the night. So the District struck a deal with the students. If they would stop risking their safety for the dare, the district would safely paint the tank every year to commemorate them.
“And we’ve been doing it ever since,” said Denke.
Fallbrook Public Utility District utility workers Colter Shannon and Bryan Wagner do the honors of changing the painted numbers on Rattlesnake Tank for the Class of 2021. Photo: Fallbrook Public Utility District
It takes District staff about eight hours to paint the 25-foot-tall numbers onto the 3.6 million-gallon tank. Since the tank shares the space with several cell towers, the Fallbrook Public Utility District makes arrangements with the owners to power down their towers. Then crews safely hoist themselves up to the tower and get to work painting.
Rattlesnake Tank was built in the early 1950s and is one of Fallbrook’s oldest and most visible water tanks.
Three fourth grade student artists were honored by the Olivenhain Municipal Water District Board of Directors at its September 9 meeting as the winners of the District’s 2020 Water Awareness Poster Contest. This year’s theme asked students to illustrate how they “Love Water, Save Water.”
Three fourth grade student artists were honored by the Olivenhain Municipal Water District Board of Directors at its September 9 meeting as the winners of the District’s 2020 Water Awareness Poster Contest.
This year’s theme asked students to illustrate how they “Love Water, Save Water.”
The district annually invites fourth-grade students living or attending school within the Olivenhain Municipal Water District service area to enter the contest. Because of the change to distance learning in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the contest deadline was extended to June 15. Six classes from the district’s service area participated.
“We have been holding this poster contest for nearly three decades,” said OMWD board member Bob Topolovac. “This year, the classroom setting may have changed, but it’s reassuring to see that the students’ creativity and excitement for water conservation is as strong as ever.”
Photo: Olivenhain Municipal Water District
First Place – Ruchika Kench, Stone Ranch Elementary. Ruchika Kench’s poster depicts the planet Earth surrounded by handwritten messages portraying the value of water and the importance of preserving water for all to enjoy.
Photo: Olivenhain Municipal Water District
Second Place – Kylie Barbosa, Stone Ranch Elementary. Kylie Barbosa created a colorful illustration of bright flowers surrounded by a rainbow and multicolored raindrops. She pledges to drink water from a reusable bottle and to take shorter showers.
Photo: Olivenhain Municipal Water District
Third Place – Ryan King, Flora Vista Elementary. Ryan King drew an image of a person fishing with a sunset and a heart in the background. He recommends collecting rainwater to irrigate plants as a way to conserve water.
Kendra Jones, the first place winner’s fourth-grade teacher, also received a $50 gift card to Lakeshore Learning Store for classroom supplies. New 2021 calendars featuring the winning artwork will be available to the public for free from the Olivenhain Municipal Water District in December.
Chula Vista, Calif. – On Wednesday, September 9, the Sweetwater Authority Governing Board received a presentation from A Reason To Survive on how grant funding from the Authority will be used to educate the community on water issues.
Encinitas, Calif.—Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s Board of Directors recognized the winners of the 2020 North County water agencies’ Water Awareness Poster Contest at its September 9 meeting.
Sweetwater Authority Logo 2019