Hereford High School students win H2You contest
Hereford High School students Victoria Betzen and Aubrey Schueler were recently announced as winners of the 2018 H2YOU water conservation awareness contest, sponsored by the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District in Lubbock.
As part of the competition, Betzen and Schueler presented their municipal water conservation campaign to a panel of judges at the HPWD office. Nathan Betzen and Amy Schueler are the team sponsors.
Judges were Vikram Baliga, Lubbock County Extension agent-Horticulture; Darrell Newsom, city manager of Wolfforth; and Victoria Whitehead, HPWD Governmental Affairs director.
Using the theme “Splash to the Future,” Betzen and Schueler examined the use of irrigation scheduling, soil moisture sensors, artificial turf and xeriscaping, leak detection, rainwater harvesting, greywater use and enforcing water waste ordinances as ways to save water for the future.
The students earned an all-expense paid trip to Austin, where they will present their water conservation campaign to their state representative and/or members of the Texas Water Development Board. They will also give their presentation at an upcoming meeting of the HPWD Board of Directors.
Second place honors went to Aubrie Fields, Rori Phillips and Emma Rich of Sudan High School. The FFA members’ campaign, “Our Water—Our Future” shared information about water conservation techniques used by local agricultural producers, Red Rock Dairy at Amherst and the “Plant X”/Tolk Station electric generating stations in Lamb County.
Third place went to Koby Houston, Haley Lawson, Brandon Madison and Kayla Rodriquez of Crosbyton High School. Their campaign, “Be Green, Let’s Go…Save H2O” included a public awareness component where the students distributed water conservation tips to their local bank, pharmacy and store.
“The HPWD Board of Directors and staff commend the student teams for their hard work, insight and dedication in addressing water conservation issues. The judges were very impressed with the students and their presentations,” said Katherine Drury, HPWD education and outreach coordinator.
Created in 1951 by local residents and the State Legislature, the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 is charged with the responsibility of conserving, preserving, protecting and preventing waste of groundwater in aquifers within its 16-county service area. HPWD is the first groundwater conservation district created in Texas. Visit www.hpwd.org or call (806) 762-0181 for more information.