It is the 22nd of the month and, as part of Native American Heritage Month, we are pleased to release our November PSA today featuring Chairman Manuel Heart of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The Ute people have, since time immemorial, honored water as sacred, respecting that it is life for all people. Today they are leading in the wise allocation of this increasingly scarce resource. Chairman Heart urges all Coloradans to learn how you can take action through Water '22.  

We are excited to announce and congratulate our Water '22 Student Showcase winners! We received 169 submissions from across the state, and the judges had a difficult time selecting the 40 category winners as well as the Grand Prize, 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize award recipients. Our top winners are:

Cheyenne Comer, an 11th Grader at the City of Pueblo East High School, is our Grand Prize winner of $2,000 for her color drawing of the Arkansas River flowing into Runyon Lake. 

1st Place and $1,000 is awarded to brothers Oskar (1st grade) and Teddy Leopold (3rd grade) from Niwot Elementary School for their Model and Engineering Submission: a model of a watershed and a fictional story about water users.

Leia Albrecht, an 11th grader from Durango High School, is our 2nd place winner of $500 for her Creative Writing submission, a short story about a spot along the La Plata River. 

Finally, 3rd place and $250 is awarded to Erica Dornberger, an 8th grader at Aurora Quest K-8, for her Painting & Drawing Submission. 

40 other students across Colorado received a Top 40 award and will receive a $20 Colorado Parks & Wildlife gift card. All students who participated will receive a Certificate of Recognition from Water Education Colorado. Thank you to all of the Water '22 campaign sponsors as well as Colorado Parks & Wildlife and the Kenneth King Foundation for donations that made prizes possible.

"What a fun experience the Water '22 Student Showcase has been, from brainstorming the idea to recognizing students for their top submissions," said Cailyn Andrews, Water Education Colorado Programs Assistant and Water '22 Student Showcase Coordinator. "We are happy so many young Coloradans used the opportunity to let their imagination, creativity, and passions for our state's most valuable resource flow. Our state's K-12 students are invested in Colorado's water future, and we are happy this event allowed them an avenue for sharing their voice and vision."

Finally, thank you to all the teachers and parents who supported the Water '22 Student Showcase and the students who submitted work. 

For more and to see our top winners, please click HERE.  

Thank you to the nearly 100 people who joined us in Durango on Nov. 15 for our first in-person Author Talk with Jonathan Thompson and moderated by Barb Horn! We loved seeing everyone and if you missed it, please click the button below for the recording of this talk as well as our previous three Author Talks featuring Paolo Bacigalupi, Kevin Fedarko and Tershia d'Elgin!  

Are you a brewer and would like to get the word out on Water '22? We would love to provide you with our Water '22 coasters to put in your taproom that declare "It takes great water to make great beer." Simply e-mail water22@wateredco.org.