This guest post is by Karen Weber from Foundation for a Green Future to celebrate World Water Day.
The 4th Annual Massachusetts Water Forum is about to take place on World Water Day – Tuesday, March 22nd. This year’s Forum will launch a game-changing initiative that will turn hard infrastructure soft. As the ice melts and precipitation models predict 12 inch rain events along with an unknown timeline for sea-level rise, we need to prepare for more water in concentrated amounts and our pipes are not set up to handle this. Green infrastructure and local management look like best bets and if Charles River Watershed Association is correct, this is a must-do and a fast-do.
Smart Sewering photo courtesy of Charles River Watershed Association
The Foundation for a Green Future, Inc. has been leading the charge with the organization of the Mass. Water Forum since 2013. The goal has been to raise the flag of awareness – we cannot take our Commonwealth’s abundant water resources for granted. We must recognize that with climate change and the pressures of drought felt across the country and globe, we must be better prepared. When water percolates into the ground and is put to work locally, it not only allows us to become resilient, it puts local people to work.
Representative Chris Walsh, Framingham
We are fortunate that there are other like-minded thinkers. Representative Chris Walsh is one. He is a leader in forward thinking and a brilliant collaborator. It is amazing how the problems of resiliency and adaptation are beginning to unite us. And so, the concerted effort of several agencies to address the shift in water management: Boston Water and Sewer Commission, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Boston Society of Architects, Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Massachusetts Rivers Alliance, Green Schools and the City of Boston – along with the aforementioned, Charles River Watershed Association, and Office of Representative Chris Walsh, together with the Foundation for a Green Future, Inc. In turn, these agents have reached out to EPA, Boston Redevelopment Authority, Conservation Law Foundation and Food & Water Watch, to name a few more.
Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch, will be the keynote speaker on March 22nd’s Massachusetts Water Forum
The water issue is one of survival. After all, it is our life force. It is not just the water experts, political leaders and environmentalists that will be able to bring about the shift. It is the builders, the planners, the architects, the artists, the community organizers, the gardeners, and the everyday people who must step up. It is the businesses, the schools, the nonprofits and the faith community that can each play a role. We are the builders of Noah’s ark; we are the dreamers prepared for drought; we are the equalizers uniting people and their skills; we are in this together.
Recent Comments