What an incredible year. It’s hard to capture everything that happened at WaterNow Alliance in 2017! Our team hit the ground running and never stopped. Here’s a by-the-numbers look at some of this year's top highlights:

WaterNow Alliance added 93 new members from 24 states
Our membership nearly doubled over the last year as we reached communities now cumulatively serving over 25 million Americans.

 

Convened over 100 leaders at our Annual Summit in Boulder, CO
The WaterNow Annual Summit brought together leaders from across the nation who want to champion sustainable water solutions in their communities. Read our full report back of this year’s event.

 

Recognized 3 outstanding visionaries with our Inaugural WaterNow Impact Award and WaterNow Leadership Award
Former Mayor of Mountain View, CA Mike Kasperzak received WaterNow Alliance’s Leadership Award while Councilmember Wally Campbell from Goodyear, AZ and Director Steve Elie from Inland Empire Utilities Agency were honored with the WaterNow Impact Award. Read about their stories here. Nominations are now open for our 2018 Award!

 

Held 5 regional briefings for WaterNow Members
From California to Colorado, WaterNow Alliance began hosting more intimate regionally focused workshops. Above, Moulton Niguel General Manager, Joone Lopez speaks at our California Capitol briefing on Governor Brown’s executive order and framework to “Make Conservation a California Way of Life.”

Launched our 1st workshop series: "Communicating with Ratepayers: Getting Past Paying More for Less"
We teamed up with Denver Water, Colorado Municipal League and the National League of Cities for our first communications workshop. In 2018, we'll be taking this show on the road to Arizona and other states in the Colorado Basin and hosting a webinar for those who can't attend in person. Stay tuned! 

Brought together over 150 attendees for California’s Second Annual Data Summit at Stanford University
WaterNow Alliance Communications and Outreach Manager Tia Lebherz co-facilitated the Data Summit with Patrick Atwater from the CA Data Collaborative.

 

Partnered with the Arizona Brew Challenge on a statewide beer competition that saw 26 AZ breweries submit delicious beer made from recycled water!
Water Resource Specialist Danielle McPherson is all smiles after returning home from the final PWBC event – she even brought back beer for our staff & steering committee to sample!

 

Made substantive progress on our initiative to unlock millions of dollars in funding for sustainable water technology
While the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is still finalizing their recommendation, initial drafts indicate they are supportive of utilities capitalizing investments in decentralized water saving innovation.

 

Attended 29 conferences (and gave 11 presentations!)
Executive Director Cynthia Koehler with fellow panelists at NLC’s 2017 City Summit. She spoke about the importance of a “one water” future for local communities!

 

Trained and certified 19 Qualified Water Efficient Landscapers
Program Associate Lindsay Rogers with students from the Fresno, CA Chapter of the Local Conservation Corps after a two-day training to become an EPA-certified Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper

 

Submitted 2 advocacy letters in support of WaterSMART funding signed by over 90 local elected officials
WaterNow Alliance members made their voices heard this year asking the federal government to maintain funding of the WaterSMART program.

 

Hosted or participated in over 20 webinars
In our first foray in to hosting webinars, we were joined by over 50 participants to hear from some of the top experts on important policy issues that impact local utilities. Look for more opportunities to join WaterNow Webinars in 2018!

 

Mentored 6 research associates from universities across the nation
Summer Associate Daisy Ramirez Lopez presented at a Meritus Scholar event about her work with us over the summer. She played a critical role in our WaterSMART initiative and helped expand our water profile database!

 

Welcomed 3 new WaterNow Alliance steering committee members
We were thrilled to add Director Steve Elie, Councilmember Pat Showalter and Councilmember De’Sean Quinn to our steering committee. Their expertise is invaluable in shaping WaterNow Alliance’s agenda and priorities.

 

Added 12 new partners to our network

Our staff was excited to show off the swag sent to us by our partners at the Arizona Pure Water Brew Challenge!

 

Want to support another year of growth and sustainable water solutions?
Donate today to make your year-end contribution to WaterNow Alliance. All donations are tax-deductible and will go towards our work to jumpstart sustainable water solutions across the Nation.

You can also support our work through social media: Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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