2021 was a year filled with intense change and sparks of hope for our country and the water sector. The country faces both pressing need and countless opportunities for advancing One Water policies and programs, and we are proud to lead a network of members striving to implement these positive changes in their organizations and communities.
This US Water Alliance Year in Review highlights our key achievements from 2021. We are excited to share these accomplishments with you!
Former Alliance CEO Radhika Fox joined the US Environmental Protection Agency, and we welcomed Mami Hara as our new CEO
Early this year, President Biden selected US Water Alliance CEO Radhika Fox for the role of Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water at the United States Environmental Protection Agency. We applaud President Biden for selecting Radhika for this critical position, and we are proud to see her incredible accomplishments as the new leader of our nation’s water program.
This fall, Mami Hara joined the US Water Alliance as our new CEO. We are thrilled she joined the Alliance team, and we look forward to her guidance into the new year and beyond!
We celebrated the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the progress of the Build Back Better Act
New legislation marked a historical federal investment in infrastructure, with more than $55 billion dedicated specifically to water infrastructure in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the potential for additional investment through the Build Back Better Act. Our staff and US Water Alliance members, as well as Radhika Fox in her new capacity at the EPA, helped deliver major wins and significant federal funding for water provisions!
The sixth-annual Value of Water Index revealed strong bipartisan support for federal investment in water infrastructure
For the sixth year in a row, the Value of Water Campaign poll surveyed over 1,000 American voters and found broad support for rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, ensuring a reliable supply of water, and addressing drinking water contamination.
The Value of Water Campaign engaged over 1,000 participants in the seventh-annual Imagine a Day Without Water
Messaging to communicate how water is essential, invaluable, and in need of investment reached millions of people through media interviews, events, and on social media.
The Value of Water Campaign hosted “Meeting the Moment: The Urgency and Opportunity to Invest in Water Systems” as part of United for Infrastructure week
The webinar featured expert voices on the scale and scope of our water infrastructure challenges, the proposal from the Biden administration to make an unprecedented commitment to water infrastructure and a specific commitment to removing lead from water, and what this all could mean for job creation and the communities that water providers serve.
We were a co-sponsor of Water Week, a series of virtual events to highlight the importance of water infrastructure
During this week, we hosted a policy zoom-in to give attendees the opportunity to hear directly from key EPA officials and Members of Congress on important regulatory and legislative water policies.
We began 2021 by launching our Recovering Stronger initiative
Together with partners and allied organizations, the US Water Alliance is using the Recovering Stronger initiative to drive long-overdue changes that will allow the water sector and the nation to recover stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grounded in five interlocking solutions, the initiative seeks to make the water sector more resilient, sustainable, and equitable.
We published Recovering Stronger: A Federal Policy Blueprint
The blueprint showcases the water sector’s best legislative, regulatory, and administrative policy ideas to inform and shape early policy conversations, as well as helps policymakers understand specifically where they could effect change.
We held six State Listening Sessions as part of our Recovering Stronger initiative
These listening sessions brought together state policymakers and One Water stakeholders to explore innovative state policy approaches that are helping the water sector recover stronger. Once all the listening sessions were held, the insights uncovered were synthesized into a State Blueprint.
We released the Recovering Stronger Knowledge Map and the Recovering Stronger Messaging Framework as companions to the State Listening Sessions
The Knowledge Map elevates the policies and programs highlighted in the six Listening Sessions that are enabling recovery efforts at the local and state levels, and the Messaging Framework can be used to help craft engaging messages on the topic of recovery.
The Water Equity Network welcomed 11 new cities
The Water Equity Network now includes a total of 28 cities that have built cross-sector Water Equity teams with representatives from local water and wastewater utilities, organizations serving vulnerable communities, environmental groups, and philanthropy to advance equitable water management.
We released Water Equity Taskforce: Insights for the Water Sector
The report features the lessons and achievements from Atlanta, Buffalo, Camden, Cleveland, Louisville, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh—the seven cities that make up the Water Equity Taskforce—in building the water sector’s capacity to collaboratively solve water equity challenges.
We released the Pittsburgh and Atlanta Equitable Water Future Roadmaps
The roadmaps aim to build a shared understanding of the challenges, opportunities, and priorities for action to secure an equitable water future for all Pittsburgh and Atlanta residents. These two roadmaps conclude the series of seven Water Equity Roadmaps written by the original Water Equity Taskforce cities.
We collaborated with trusted partners to advance water equity at the federal level
From infrastructure investment focused on disadvantaged communities and equity issues like lead in water, to low-income water bill assistance and diversifying the water workforce, we worked with member utilities, water sector trade associations, and our allies on equitable water policies.
We awarded the US Water Prize to nine outstanding winners
KC Water Green Stewards Program, Friends of Gadsden Creek, Microsoft, Salmon Speakers, San Juan Bay Estuary Program, Tucson Water, Dr. Lindsay Birt, Ian James and colleagues at The Arizona Republic, and Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury (NM-1) all took home prizes for their work in advancing sustainable, integrated, and inclusive water solutions to our nation’s water challenges.
We launched the Imagination Challenge: Water’s Role in the Race to Zero pilot as part of our new Climate Action Through One Water initiative
By assembling a sector-wide Imagination Team from over 30 organizations that kicked off with an International Water and Climate Mitigation Symposium, the pilot is helping surface innovative solutions and an overarching strategy to reduce the water sector’s greenhouse gas footprint across the nation.
We launched the Water, Arts, and Culture Accelerator
We facilitated partnerships between four water utilities and local artists in Little Rock, AR; Madison, WI; Philadelphia, PA; and Tucson, AZ, helping to further infuse innovative arts and cultural practices into utility operations and capital projects.
Benny Starr, our artist-in-residence, continued to push the Alliance to integrate arts and culture into all aspects of our work
In addition to being announced a 2021 Grist 50 Fixer, Benny released seasonal reflections on topics including his collaborative production of “Restoration: A Concert Film,” connecting Juneteenth with his work, and how his upbringing fostered his passion for water and the arts.
We completed the first cycle of our Mentoring Connections Program
To accelerate change leadership to advance One Water, we connected 10 rising water sector professionals with 10 exceptional water leaders to foster 1-on-1 mentoring and allow for the exchange of knowledge and insights.
We supported the nation's first Mayors Commission on Water Equity
The US Water Alliance partnered with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative on the first-ever Mayors Commission on Water Equity, which examined how the federal government and states of the Great Lakes can forge a more equitable water future.
In 2021, we welcomed 20 new members
From water utilities and labor unions to community organizations and academia—our members represent the diversity of stakeholders who are working to solve the One Water challenges facing our nation today.
Thank you to our key partners who supported US Water Alliance work in 2021
- The Allen H. and Selma W. Berkman Charitable Trust
- Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
- Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
- The Heinz Endowments
- The Joyce Foundation
- The Kresge Foundation
- Pisces Foundation
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Spring Point Partners LLC
- The Walton Family Foundation
- Water Foundation
- Water Funder Initiative
- William Penn Foundation
Nothing transformational happens without true partnership. As we continue to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, we are especially grateful for our network of members, philanthropic partners, and supporters. Together, we are advancing One Water and working towards a sustainable water future for all.