“Many of us have set roots there, and we put all of our resources in the property that we have to keep it fixed and repaired, storm after storm after storm, and I do believe that assistance is needed by the federal and state government that helped to maintain us there during the Jim Crow era.”  Hilton Kelley, Community In-Development  Last year, climate disasters forced 2.5 million people to flee their homes, and cost $92.9 billion dollars and nearly 500 lives. But those numbers don’t tell the real story: of elders stuck in their homes with no way to get to safety, families living w ..read more

Thanks to the tireless advocacy of groups working to elevate water as a political priority, historic water funding is flowing to communities! Just last week, Vice President Harris and EPA Administrator Regan announced $6 billion for clean water projects. With these big sums, it can be tempting to focus solely on the dollar signs. But the real story isn’t the spending: it’s the outreach, planning, hiring, training, building and planting those funds facilitate. And some of the most exciting work made possible by federal infrastructure dollars is being led by grassroots groups that see water and ..read more

Growing up on the outskirts of Merced, California, I drank (sometimes brownish) water from a well, and practiced my balance beam routine on the pipe that watered the pasture where our 4H sheep fed. Occasionally, I’d join my brother in digging channels to direct the flow of irrigation, making islands for little rock cities, surrounded by water that cut ever deeper into the dirt.  Despite all this, I never gave much thought to water infrastructure. It was just background stuff, taken for granted, like the water itself. Now, of course, I understand how precious water is in that part of the s ..read more

Inspired and informed by annual predictions round-ups like Reframe’s narrative predictions and Grist’s climate trends, we’ve taken a crack at our best guesses of the top water stories we anticipate or hope to see each year.  Each year, we look at the water solutions on the rise and, recently, we have been thinking a lot about the word resilience. Is it a ubiquitous buzzword used as shorthand to describe climate adaptation efforts, a dirty word to allow continued harm in communities who bear the burden of polluting industries and climate impacts, or a vision of hope for a strong, healthy ..read more

As we dive full-on into the award season, we want to take a moment to celebrate what Color of Water members accomplished to the public narrative around water in 2023.  It would be too long of a list to include all of the great contributions by Color of Water experts, so here are eight media moments that had our hearts beating deeper for water justice leaders across the country:  Bleu Adams and Jaiden Willeto shared how Indigenous food sovereignty and ancient practices steer public health and climate resilience in the Navajo Nation. (City Weekly) Angela Chalk uplifted how New Orlea ..read more

In today’s world, discussions about water-related issues frequently take center stage in media, conferences, and policy-making circles. However, one glaring issue persists: these vital conversations are often dominated by a narrow spectrum of voices, failing to represent the rich diversity of perspectives, experiences, and solutions offered by underrepresented communities.  Recognizing this profound imbalance, Water Hub and waterloop have embarked on a partnership aimed at elevating voices from the Color of Water directory — a diverse ensemble of water experts who bring unique insights an ..read more

The Great Lakes is often described as a climate refuge because of its ample fresh water, but its cities have some of the country’s oldest public plumbing. From lead pipes supplying water to homes and schools to stormwater systems that spill sewage during heavy rains, the region’s aging water infrastructure is in desperate need of an update, especially communities that have historically been disinvested. Fortunately, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is sending billions of dollars to Great Lakes states to fund clean water and climate readiness, with a directive to invest 40% in areas that are u ..read more

What is more audacious than hope? Recently, we looked back at the solutions journalism we loved this year. So, to inspire your vision for the world you want to live in, here are seven of our favorite water solutions stories from 2023: Millions lack access to running water. Is the solution hiding in plain sight? – Nick Aspinwall in the Washington Post Local solutions that tackle multiple problems at once are the sweet spot of climate and water justice. They often work with nature, are community-driven with max community benefit, and can be scaled up, to boot. Before we met Brad Lancaster at the ..read more

This blog was originally posted on the Water Equity and Climate Resilience Caucus site. The Water Equity & Climate Resilience (WECR) Caucus delegation of 40 frontline water justice organizations and allies traveled to the 2023 One Water Summit in Tucson, AZ last month. The Summit, hosted by U.S. Water Alliance, brought together 972 participants from 322 cities across 46 states, creating an inclusive space for conversations and recognizing leaders in water management, equity, and sustainability. During Summit, WECR centered the role of narrative change, leading a peer session that emphasize ..read more

At last month’s One Water Summit, José, Jessica, and I got to join a “Storm to Shade” green infrastructure tour hosted by Tucson Water that beautifully illustrated the value of water. It started in Barrio Centro, where artists and organizers from Flowers & Bullets showed us the pocket park they created out of a vacant lot so that kids waiting for the bus would have a place to play, and the shuttered school they reimagined as a farm and community center. Next, Brad Lancaster gave us a tour of his Dunbar Springs neighborhood, where curb cuts and basins catch rain t ..read more