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 Orleans residents are taking the issue of extreme heat into their own hands by planting trees in an effective way. (ABC News)
- Heather Tanana discussed the past and future of water access, public health and water policies in the Colorado basin for Indigenous communities. (KUNC)
- Alex Ortiz highlighted the importance of including colonias in the Mexico/US border outside of prioritization schemes for water infrastructure funding. (Texas Tribune)
- Billie Li unpacked the need to integrate resilience into our infrastructure to prepare communities for extreme climate events in Massachusetts. (Commonwealth Beacon)
- Sri Vedachalam talked about how more intense storms are flooding low-lying water treatment plants and overwhelming coastal sewage systems. (Associated Press)
- Michael Mendez pointed out how multi-benefit water projects help mitigate the disparate impacts that urban heat waves have on disinvested communities. (PBS)
- Angel Santiago Fernández-Bou explained how agriculture in the Central Valley has decreased the land’s once natural resilience to drought, floods and heat. (LA Times)
A special shoutout to Jeremy Orr and Jessica Dandridge for elevating their local water issues (Planet Detroit and CNN) and for being selected for the inaugural Obama Foundation Leaders USA Program, which recognizes and supports 100 emerging leaders to create positive change in their communities and strengthen democratic institutions.
We recently launched a new podcast featuring Color of Water members in collaboration with waterloop. To give you a sneak peak at the series, our first four episodes will feature Vidya Balasubramanyam, Vinicius Taguchi, Dira Johanif and Alai Reyes-Santos respectively. Stay tuned for more throughout the year!
And as always, to spread the love, the Water Hub featured Color of Water members’ work and celebrated them on social media.
Know of other people who’d be interested in joining Color of Water? Pass this form along so we can grow together!