Hillsborough County, Fla. (Jan. 20, 2026) - Hillsborough County's annual Drop Savers Water Conservation Poster Contest is back in 2026 for students in grades K-12.
The contest, co-sponsored by Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa, encourages students to use their creative skills to tell the story of water conservation by creating a poster.
This year's deadline is Feb 15.
All Hillsborough County students can enter the contest by creating a poster depicting water conservation. Each student who enters a poster in the contest must create an original idea that portrays water conservation in a slogan and/or drawing form. Each poster will be judged on the message, creativity, originality, and artistic ability. The poster must be drawn on 8.5 x 11-inch white paper and may be drawn vertically or horizontally. Students may use crayons, paint, color pencils, or markers. No highlighters, photos, or computer graphics are permitted.
There are five divisions in the contest:
- Division one: Kindergarten and first grade students
- Division two: Second and third grade students
- Division three: Fourth and fifth grade students
- Division four: All middle school grades
- Division five: All high school grades
Each school will select one winner from each division for submission to the local level. A panel of water conservation specialists from Hillsborough County Water Resources and the City of Tampa Water Department will judge all school winning posters on the message, creativity, originality, and artistic ability and will choose a first-, second-, and third-place local winner for each division. The first-place local winners will advance to the statewide level, judged by the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association (FSAWWA).
The submission deadline for the local-level judging is Feb. 15. Entries can be submitted to WaterConservation@HCFL.gov. Learn more about the Drop Savers Poster Contest rules.
The first-place local winners for each division will win:
- Posters of their artwork
- Customized reusable water bottles imprinted with their artwork to share with their classmates
- Custom jigsaw puzzle
- A water conservation retrofit kit
- Advancement to the Statewide-Level FSAWWA Drop Savers Poster Contest for additional prizes
- Students who enter the statewide competition can win a gift card, a plaque, a water conservation kit, and more.
For more information, visit HCFL.gov/DropSavers.