YWYL Student Hub
Everything contestants need here!
YWYL Student HubYour Water Your Life Contest Winners!
Amy Nash
Wetland Protection Plan and Conservation Easements
Writing & Literature
Ryan Sawyer
Headwaters to Plains: The South Platte River Basin
Photography
Ryan Sawyer is a junior at Colorado State University studying Biomedical Sciences with a focus in Environmental Public Health and minoring in Sustainable Interdisciplinary Water Studies. Ryan is a 5th generation Coloradan who grew up
In Denver and graduated from Denver East High School. Ryan recognizes the immense value of water in the western US. It was through time spent outside and after attending the High Mountain Institute in Leadville, CO that he became very passionate about water. When Ryan is not in school, you can find him working at Happy Lucky’s Teahouse in old town Fort Collins, rowing on Horsetooth reservoir with the Colorado State Crew Team, hiking or flyfishing throughout the state.
Lukas Migliano
home is where the water is
Film
Tanner Welsh
Acequia Auraria
Engineering & Design
About
The Your Water Your Life (YWYL) contest, spearheaded by the One World One Water Center at MSU Denver, is a statewide effort to connect higher education students with their local water resources through interdisciplinary and intersectional methods. At the OWOW Center, we believe that no issue is not a water issue. Water is connected to everything we do, every career, every interest we hold close, and every path we choose to wander down. The YWYL contest will take place through the 2023/2024 academic school year and aims to provide an opportunity for all students across Colorado to engage with their local water environment and community to showcase how water influences their life by creating a project in one of the below categories.
Students will complete questionnaires on the Colorado Water Plan and local Basin Implementation Plans, meet various competition deadlines, and their submissions will be judged by an interdisciplinary panel of experts. Students can choose from a contest category that they connect with most.
Step by Step Guide:
- Learn about the Your Water Your Life Contest:
- Read about the Contest Categories
- Review the Rules & Eligibility
- Learn about the Colorado Water Plan & Basin Implementation Plans
- Outline A Project: decide your category and if you’ll enter as an individual or as part of a team.
- Submit a Contest Application.
- Attend Your Mid-Point Check In.
- Complete Your Project by 11:59pm MST on April 1, 2024.
Timeline:
- August 1, 2023: Applications Open
- January 31, 2024: Midpoint Check Ins Completed
- January 31, 2024: Budget Requests Due
- April 1, 2024: Contest Deadline
- May 3, 2024: Award Date
- June 2024: Winners participate in the Watershed Summit
Contest Hubs
Contest Background
“An integrated One Water ethic is necessary to create the transformative change needed to meet the moment and the future.” (Colorado Water Plan Executive Summary 2023)
Colorado Water Conservation Board
The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) represents each major water basin in the state and other state agencies in a joint effort to use water wisely and protect Colorado’s water for future generations. The CWCB creates and manages the Colorado Water Plan framework, and supports the state’s water community with funding and technical resources to implement programs and projects, like the Your Water Your Life Contest. Please read the below information about the Colorado Water Plan and the Basin Implementation Plans. Contestants will be tested on their knowledge of these plans.
Colorado Water Plan
The Colorado Water Plan, first established in 2015 with an updated plan released in January 2023, provides a framework for helping Colorado meet its water challenges through collaborative action around water development and water conservation. “To achieve these upper-end water savings, Colorado will need to employ every tool – going beyond water conservation and efficiency to embrace a One Water ethic. In the context of the Water Plan, One Water means not only matching the right water to the right use but investing in sustained water conservation efforts and integrated water and land use planning.” (Colorado Water Plan Executive Summary 2023) The Colorado Water Plan is a grassroots effort that focuses on 4 interconnecting key action areas: Vibrant Communities, Robust Agriculture, Thriving Watersheds, and Resilient Planning, and relies on the Colorado water community to identify and implement basin-specific and/or statewide water projects.
Read the full 2023 Colorado Water Plan update here.
Basin Implementation Plans
Basin Implementation Plans are part of the overall Colorado Water Plan. There are 8 Basin Implementation Plans for each of Colorado’s river basins: Arkansas, Colorado, North Platte, Rio Grande, Gunnison, Yampa/White/Green, South Platte, and Southwest. Each plan breaks down challenges and strategies that are specific to each of Colorado’s eight river basins.
Learn more about each of the Basin Implementation Plans here.
Rules & Eligibility
Your Water Your Life (YWYL) reserves the right to use the final projects in current and future publications for/by YWYL or One World One Water Center (OWOW).
The creator(s) will retain the intellectual copyright, the physical copy, and all other rights not specified.
YWYL and OWOW will retain the rights to reproduce the imagery for publication on the internet, in social media, and in physical advertising/newsletters.
YWYL and OWOW will also publish the winners on its website, social media, and any branded print owned and supported by OWOW and YWYL.
Contest Rules
- Contestants may choose to enter the YWYL contest as an individual or as part of a team. Max of 4 per team unless otherwise requested.
- Contestants must review the Colorado Water Plan and Basin Implementation Plans and incorporate them into the YWYL project.
- Contestants must meet for a mid-point check in with their contest liaisons.
Eligibility- who can participate?
The Your Water Your Life Contest is open to all degree seeking, undergraduate and graduate students attending a higher education institution in Colorado.
Contest Scoring Rubric
Contestants will be scored on the following categories:
| CONNECT | ORIGINALITY | EDUCATE | INTERPRETATION | REALIZE |
| Connect to the purpose, objective, and understanding of Colorado Water Plan, Basin Implementation Plans, and water resources in Colorado. | Demonstrate creative thinking and innovation in project design and end product. | Create awareness of water issues. | Showcase an interdisciplinary, intrapersonal connection of how water is connected to life. | Project fits the submission category and has real world feasibility. |
Find the Full YWYL Contest Rubric Here
Contest Categories
Photo representations of how your life is impacted by water. For example – contestants may choose to shoot natural water resources, water infrastructure, indirect impacts of water or lack thereof.
Create an innovative project that shows a connection to water and the impact it has on life.
Written piece in any genre.
A piece in any medium; drawing, painting, sculpture, etc., featuring water and its impact on your life or your community.
A film of any genre featuring water and its impact on your life or your community.
Landscape design plan, rendering, and/or real-world application of your design highlighting the relationship between water and landscape.
Conduct research on a water related topic of your choosing and determine real world applications from your research.
Create and/or perform a piece of theater, perform a dance, spoken word, or write a song featuring water and its impact on your life or your community.
Creation of a community service project that will make a positive impact for a select population as it relates to water.
Design a water course or water workshop that will educate a target audience.
Contest Application & Funding Requests
Submit Your Project
Submit Your ProjectContest FAQ's
Your Water Your Life is a contest spearheaded by the OWOW Center in a statewide effort to connect students in higher learning institutions with their local water resources.
Here at OWOW we believe that no issue is not a water issue. YWYL is a contest to connect students, with different majors and interests, to water and water conservation.
The One Water One World Center at Metropolitan State University of Denver is a collaboration between MSU Denver and Denver Botanic Gardens. The OWOW Center strives to prepare educated, empowered, solution-oriented Colorado citizenry to protect and preserve our precious water resources.
You can expect self-reliance, networking, resume-building, ingenuity, and perseverance. This contest is a great opportunity to test the waters of a professional environment. You will be working with an idea, putting in the work and creativity to finish it. While also working with the YWYL Contest Liaisons.
This is a great opportunity for students to get a feel for project-based initiatives and build camaraderie with the water community.
Degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate students attending all higher education institutions in Colorado, including colleges, community colleges, universities, and other higher learning institutions.
Applications open August 1, 2023.
Final contest submissions are due April 1, 2024.
Yes, up to 4 students can compete on a team.
Each student participating on a team will need to fill out a contest application.
Contestants can chose to create a project in one of the ten defined categories. The categories are:
- Photography
- Engineering & Design
- Writing & Literature
- Art
- Film
- Landscape
- Research
- Performance & Music
- Community Service Project
- Education
Yes! If you’ve completed a project for class, you can submit it to the YWYL Contest.
If you’re working on a project for class currently, you an submit it! All you have to do is decide which of the 10 contest categories your project fits in best.
- Contestants must review the Colorado Water Plan and Basin Implementation Plans
- There will be a knowledge test in the application on both plans.
- The Colorado Water Plan and Basin Implementation Plans must also be incorporated into your project.
- You will need basic contact information: email, institution, degree, anticipated graduation date.
- You will need to submit a proposal for your project, this is done in the application. You will need to:
- Select a Contest Category.
- Name your project
- Provide a summary of your project. Consider the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your project.
- Yes, Individuals and teams are invited to submit requests for contest funding to assist with the development of their contest submission.
- Funding requests are distributed in the form of either gift cards or direct purchase by the Your Water Your Life project team and sent to the individual/team.
Projects will be scored by a panel of interdisciplinary water experts.
Each project will be assessed using the following criteria:
- Connect: Connect to the purpose, objective, and understanding of the Colorado Water Plan, Basin Implementation Plans, and water resources in Colorado.
- Originality: Demonstrate creative thinking and innovation in project design and end product.
- Educate: Create awareness of water issues.
- Interpretation: Showcase an interdisciplinary, intrapersonal connection of how water is connected to life.
- Realize: The project fits the submission category and has real-world feasibility.
There will be one winner from each category.
10 winners total.