Waterwise Video Contest Open to Santa Barbara County High School Students
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) The Santa Barbara County Water Agency is hosting its 27th Annual Waterwise High School Video Contest.
This years theme is "Grow Beyond the Grass: Replace Your Lawn to Save Water, Support Nature and Keep Yards Cool."
The lengthy theme was selected to highlight the importance of sustainable outdoor water use and the benefits of transitioning away from thirsty lawns.
The Santa Barbara County Public Works Department Public Information Officer Lael Wagerneck said students are encouraged to enter 30 second videos in English or Spanish.
"The Santa Barbara County water agency works with different donors to provide cash prizes to the schools and the students and so it is great that the students can do something creative and is both a benefit to community by promoting conservation and there is a little prize with it."
Prizes range from $150-$500 for student award and $300-$1,000 for school awards.
Sponsors include Corollo Engineers, La Buena 105.1 FM, Geosyntec, Enviroscaping and Dudek.
The recent rainfall may have washed drought worries away, but Wagerneck said that doesn't mean people should relax their conservation efforts.
"While Cachuma is spilling right now it is important to conserve water all year and every year because Cachuma spilled in 2011 and by 2016 it was down to 6 percent capacity so even though we have a lot of water right now without five years we could be back down to single digits so it is important that people conserve water and that is why this contest is so important because it supports conserving all year," said Wagerneck.
Wagerneck conserves water at home by have drought tolerant plants and an artificial lawn.
He said he also takes quick showers and turns the tap off while brushing his teeth.
Some of those concepts have been promoted in past contests.
Past winners includes students from Dos Pueblos High, Santa Ynez Valley Union High School and Pioneer Valley High School.
They included animation, musicals, parodies, mysteries and thrillers.
When the contest first began students used VHS tapes, now they can use their Iphones and edit on their phones or laptops.
Organizers hope more schools and students will enter this year.
The winning vidoes are likely to be shown in local movie theaters before films and on local TV and video monitors at gas stations.
Students may find a link to application packets, award winning videos examples and a how-to-video by logging onto, https://waterwisesb.org
Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. March 6th.
Winners will be announced in the Spring.
Your News Channel will have more on the Waterwise contest tonight on the news.
