Coordinated by our water association partners, Water Week 2018 saw hundreds of industry leaders from across the country converge in Washington, DC to educate decision makers about key issues in the sector. At the US Water Alliance, it was a very productive week.
The Value of Water Campaign released the results of its third annual national poll demonstrating that Americans strongly support increasing federal investment to address our nation’s water infrastructure, even in light of the costs. The campaign participated in 15 radio interviews reached nearly 2 million listeners over 146 airplays to spread the message that voters support a proactive program of water infrastructure investment rather than waiting for these critical systems to fail. At the Water Week joint congressional briefing, the Value of Water Campaign shared results with leaders from across the water sector and distributed hundreds of copies of the results to all those who took to the Hill to speak to their congressional representatives. To hear more about the Value of Water Campaign’s public opinion research and the results of this year’s national poll, listen to the latest episode of the Water Environment Federation’s Words on Water Podcast featuring Abigail Gardner, Communications Director for the Value of Water Campaign.
Radhika Fox, CEO of the US Water Alliance, also moderated a briefing on Water Utility Workforce. Convened by the Water Agency Leaders Alliance (WALA), this briefing highlighted the challenges the water sector is facing as both its workforce and its infrastructure age and discussed ways to use these trends as an opportunity to address local workforce diversity gaps and career pathways into the water sector for underserved communities. Panelists included Andy Kricun (Executive Director and Chief Engineer, Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority), Kishia Powell (Commissioner of the City of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management), and Abby Snay (CEO of Jewish Vocational Services, San Francisco).
