2015 Water Awareness Video Contest Winners Announced

VACAVILLE, Calif. – The Solano County Water Agency is pleased to announce the winners of the 2015 Water Awareness Video Contest:

FIRST PLACE: Armoni Carter, Avinash Vadlamudi, Daniel Gutierrez and Joshua Hunter (Jared Ropelato, teacher) of Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville will receive $1,500 split 50/50 between students and sponsoring teacher.

SECOND PLACE (Tie): Oriden Catala (Katy Green, teacher) and Paolo Basaca (Marilyn Lewis, teacher), both of Vanden High School in Fairfield will receive $1,000 split 50/50 between students and sponsoring teachers.

THIRD PLACE: Calvin Caragan, Harrison Tunggal and Iain Laprade (Jason McCabe, teacher) of St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School in Vallejo will receive $500 split 50/50 between students and sponsoring teacher.

This is the second time Armoni Carter has earned top honors in the contest, earning the second place award in 2014.

A record-breaking 150 videos were submitted in this year’s contest, which challenged teens to create compelling and original 60-second Public Service Announcement (PSA) videos on a the 2015 water efficiency theme: Go Slow on the H2o: Reduce your water use outdoors.

“It was clear to the screening team that students really understand the gravity of California’s drought, which some experts suggest is the worst in the state’s history,” said Andy Florendo, a Water Conservation Coordinator for Solano County Water Agency. “The videos were great at conveying the drought’s severity and the need to reduce water use outdoors, where people can make the biggest difference in their overall water use.”

Several of the winning videos conveyed the seriousness of California’s drought and the critical need to conserve water through original storylines, saying “It’s times like these when we all need to play our part.” Other winning videos used snappy, hopeful music and bright graphics to teach viewers the “dos” and “don’ts” of water conservation, such as “do water your garden early in the morning, but don’t during the day.”

All of the top scoring videos can be viewed on the Solano Saves Water YouTube channel at http://tinyurl.com/scwavideo.

A panel of water efficiency experts narrowed videos down to the top 18 finalists, and then celebrity judges selected the winners. Judges included Assemblyman Jim Frazier, Solano County Supervisors Erin Hannigan and John Vasquez, KUIC radio’s John Young and the Vallejo/Solano Film Commission’s Jim Reikowsky. The selections were based on entertainment value and originality, videography, style and organization, audio/sound, and movie content and accuracy.

In addition, three teachers that submitted the most videos will be presented with Amazon gift cards. These include Katy Green of Vanden High School (41 videos), Jason McCabe of St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School (35 videos) and Marilyn Lewis of Vanden High School (24 videos).

For more information about the contest or for tips on using water efficiently, visit www.solanosaveswater.org.