Problem Statement

Residents in various communities face challenges in ensuring sustainable water use, conservation, and drought prevention. This is partially due to inadequate information on verifying water sources, understanding water rates, and equity in the human right to consistent access to clean water. Impact area(s): Protect the Planet and Build Inclusive Communities.

Target Group

There are two target groups for this project: residents of the Greater Phoenix Area and shapers of the West Coast region. In the Greater Phoenix Area, there is a growing need to better understand our water sources and the impacts these sources of water can have on our quality of life and cost of living. Pressing issues locally are lack of knowledge on water conservation practices, uncertainty around large investments such as purchasing homes that have an assured and adequate water supply, and increasing costs to have clean and reliable water. When observing one of our most essential water sources in the Phoenix region, the Colorado River is one that is shared amongst 40 million people across internationally with Mexico, and nationally with Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. With this shared resource, there is an opportunity to expand this water conservation conversation to our neighbors and other users of the Colorado River. By including all who depend on this vital source of water, we can share best practices and new water conservation knowledge that can increase our impact to conserve the Colorado River.

Proposed Solution

We will conduct a series of educational conversations.

Hub Activities

Host a Cross-hub meeting to gather perspectives and best practices on water conservation and managing impacts of water scarcity Host a booth at various events around the Valley to reach local residents about the importance of water conservation Host a culminating event to share the collected best practices through the engagement with the local residents and across the Southwest Engage with the full Phoenix Hub (and the newly created Phoenix Hub 2) for the first in a series of educational sessions to test and refine materials for the local community/our partners and for the shapers community. Organize a West Coast Shapers Water Conservation Event, specifically engaging with those affected by drought and the drying of the Colorado River. Create a repeatable and actionable educational program on various topics.

Goals

• Short-term: Attend at least 3 water-related events Conduct a baseline survey on water conservation knowledge. Track metrics


• Long-term goals: Conduct a follow-up survey to measure improvements in water conservation knowledge. Increase the number of organizations or communities directly benefited. Increase the number of water-related blog posts on the website to enhance education. Make it repeatable and share.

Available Metrics

• The hub will attend at least 3 water-related events for educational and networking purposes


• The hub will conduct a baseline and follow-up survey on water conservation knowledge


• The hub will track:
  
  
  • The total number of event and workshop attendees
  
  
  • The number of organizations or communities directly benefited
  
  
  • The number of water-related social media posts and interactions there
  
  
  • The number of water-related blog posts on the website
  
  
  
  

Project Collaborators

The following organizations are highly supportive of any efforts that are water-conservation related and we have shapers who are working at or have previously worked for them: Local government agencies, Water - Use It Wisely, The Salt River Project (SRP), Local Events, Global Shapers in West Coast region, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Phoenix ‘Water Wranglers’ (Volunteers), The Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC), and Point B.