Culver City Observer -

On April 25 the West Basin Municipal Water District (West Basin) Board of Directors presented awards to 15 grand prize and honorable mention student winners as part of the District’s annual Water is Life Student Art Contest.

More than 300 entries were submitted this year from public and private schools throughout West Basin’s service area. Winning artwork was chosen based on the creativity of students’ portrayal of water conservation messages coupled with their artistic skills. One grand prize each was awarded in the elementary, middle and high school categories and all student winners received an iPad Air.

“This is one of my favorite water education programs that we look forward to every year,” said Board President Carol W. Kwan. “It’s a great opportunity for students to illustrate creative water conservation messages with original artwork. We thank all the students who participated and the teachers in our service area who continue to help promote water conservation in the classroom.”

Grand prize winners from this year’s contest include:

1. Diego Gonzalez, Grade 5, Beulah Payne Elementary School, Inglewood

2. Juan Orozco, Grade 7, Prairie Vista Middle School, Hawthorne

3. Michelle Akamine, Grade 12, Culver City High School, Culver City

The 12 honorable mention award winners were:

1. Minji Kang, Grade 5, Lunada Bay Elementary School, Palos Verdes

2. Miki Uchida, Grade 3, Pennekamp Elementary School, Manhattan Beach

3. Joli Garcia, Grade 4, Farragut Elementary School, Culver City

4. Jocelin Sanchez, Grade 3, 156th Street Elementary School, Gardena

5. Jacqueline Chui, Grade 7, Chadwick School, Palos Verdes

6. Ariella Figueroa, Grade 6, Oak Street K-6 School, Inglewood

7. Evgeniya Bozhko, Grade 8, Manhattan Beach Middle School, Manhattan Beach

8. N.K. Soon, Grade 6, El Segundo Middle School, El Segundo

9. Jasmine Park, Grade 10, Palos Verdes Peninsula high school, Palos Verdes

10. Fabian Martinez, Grade 11, Inglewood high school, Inglewood

11. Sonia Araujo, Grade 12, Hawthorne high school, Hawthorne

12. Hannah Cho, Grade 10, West high school, Torrance

Part of West Basin’s program to foster the awareness of water conservation, particularly during this time of drought, the Water is Life Student Art Contest encourages third through twelfth grade students to create a water conservation message and illustrate it with original artwork. The 2016 art contest was sponsored by the law firm of Lemieux O’Neill, the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, and SUEZ North America.

For more information about the Water is Life Student Art Contest and to learn more about

West Basin’s education programs, please visit http://www.westbasin.org.

West Basin Municipal Water District (West Basin) is a wholesale water agency that provides imported drinking water to nearly one million people in 17 cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles County. West Basin is an industry leader in water recycling, conservation, and water education. West Basin is currently implementing a Water Reliability program to reduce the agency’s dependence on imported water and develop drought-proof local water supplies. The program includes water recycling, water conservation, groundwater desalting and ocean water desalination. Visit http://www.westbasin.org to learn more.