Foothill Municipal Water District (FWMD) congratulated the winners of its third annual “Water Is Life” student art competition. Taking first place was Derek Jiang, a fifth grader at La Cañada Elementary; second place was award to Shelby Perez, also in fifth grade at La Cañada Elementary; and third place was presented to Joanne Lee, a fifth grade student at Monte Vista Elementary.

Honorable mention was given to Rachel Lee, a fourth grader at Lincoln Elementary, Carolina Clevas, a sixth grader at Eliot Middle School and Gyuri Hahn, a kindergartener at Elite Art School.

These top entries received recognition at an FMWD board meeting on May 19 when students received their prizes that included gift certificates from fellow contest sponsor Los Gringos Locos Restaurant. The contest was open to all students in grades K-12 who attended a school located within the service area of a member water agency that Foothill Municipal Water District serves.

The District received 105 total entries this year and the top entries were submitted to the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) for further consideration to be included in the 2015 “Water Is Life” calendar.

Winners will be selected in the fall and honored at a student art exhibit and recognition event sponsored by MWD. Criteria for judging the art pieces consisted of addressing the theme of the contest, originality of the piece and slogan, and degree of visual and word clarity.

FMWD provides imported water to Crescenta Valley Water District, La Cañada Irrigation District, Mesa Crest Water Company, Valley Water Company, Lincoln Avenue Water Company, Las Flores Water Company and Rubio Cañon Land & Water Association. Kinneloa Irrigation District, another retail agency, takes no water from Foothill.