Applications for the 26th Annual WaterWise High School Video Contest are now open, the Santa Barbara County Water Agency ha announced.

Every year, students compete to create entertaining and informational 30-second videos that convey the importance of water use efficiency in Santa Barbara County.

This year’s contest theme — Get Rooted in Local Beauty with Native Plants — was selected to highlight the ongoing importance of sustainable outdoor water use, especially in drought-prone Santa Barbara County.  

“Now in its 26th year, the High School Video Contest is a fun, educational contest that we look forward to every year,” said Matt Young, County Water Agency manager.

“Video styles range from animation and musical parodies to mysteries and thrillers, and we can’t wait to see the amazing videos our local high school students create,” he said.

Up to six videos, three English and three Spanish, may be submitted per school. The winning videos will receive prizes and are often aired on local TV and in movie theaters.

To be eligible to win prizes, student participants must submit their videos and complete the Application Packet online by 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 7.

The student winners will be publicly announced in May and rewards will be delivered to schools in June. 

The County Water Agency and water providers arrange for monetary prizes for the winning schools, and local private sector sponsors provide student cash awards.

Sponsors this year include Carollo Engineers, La Buena 105.1 FM, Geosyntec, Ewing Irrigation, and Dudek.

To learn more and to apply for the contest, visit WaterWiseSB.org/HSVC.