The Bureau of Reclamation is pleased to announce that five projects have been selected to each receive $50,000 for Phase 1 of the Water America’s Crops Challenge. The winners and their submissions, in no particular order, are:
- Zlatko Rozic from Australia for their entry, Nylon reinforced geopolymer composite mix membrane
- Jan Beetge from Houston, Texas for their entry, Integral Waterproofing of Concrete
- John Newport and Peter Murdoch of Team Chemventive from Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania for their entry, Low Cost Long Life Elastomeric Canal Liner
- Michael McBride from Mexico for their entry, StickyCrete Canal Liners
- Duo Zhang from Ann Arbor, Michigan for their entry, Bendable Concrete for Seepage Resistant Canals
Many thanks to everyone who submitted their solutions to this initial phase of the competition. The innovativeness of the entries received made it difficult for the judging panel to select the top five.
The Phase 2 development period will be starting shortly and lasting about 15 months. The winners will be developing their prototypes and delivering them to Reclamation labs to undergo testing. Once testing is completed, the Phase 2 winners will be determined once the judging panel reviews the results. A first place and runner-up winner will be awarded a total of $110,000 by early 2023. Please continue to follow the challenge to keep up with the progress!
