River Voices: March 2025
Welcome to the March 2025 edition of River Voices. This month, we’re sharing the story of Flow Funding, with stories from many recipients of this trust-based approach to philanthropy, along with the latest news from across the network.
Imagine you’re a community leader fighting for greenspaces, extreme weather preparedness, responsible development, clean water, and access to basic needs for your friends and neighbors. You have ideas—your own and your community’s—to address these challenges, but every funding opportunity you apply for and receive comes with red tape and overhead.
Now imagine you’re a River Network Flow Funder, trusted to flow funding directly to these community leaders without restrictions or constraints. What change would these communities see? We believe equitable and enduring solutions start with community – created with, by, and for the people most impacted. Trust-based philanthropy like the Flow Fund is an effective and meaningful way to support exactly that. Now, see this belief in action through the stories of some of the Flow Fund recipients, and the countless ripples their work has sparked.
There’s no glass ceiling. There’s no stipulation. There’s no, ‘You can’t do this.’ There’s no need for only to serve this group of people… It’s open to everyone. And what Trail Mix does is, we’re able to bring urban communities—that right now buildings are being built, houses being taken and they’re feeling displaced—but we’re able to bring them up to green lands, green spaces in our areas that they have no idea exist, that you can never be displaced from, and that you will always consider your own. And you always will be welcomed there, and you always will feel, ‘I’m a part of something.’”
– Sharee Harrison, Trail Mix Creator, Flow Fund Recipient
“Water is essential for life and serves as one of our greatest grounding forces and connectors. The many passionate, resilient community leaders, scientists, recreationalists, and others committed to protecting the smallest headwaters to the largest river deltas inspire me.
There is so much work ahead of us, and building community and continuously learning from one another is essential to build and maintain momentum.”
Join us in welcoming Jenny Tompkins to the River Network team as River Programs Associate!
We’re thrilled to launch the Building Blocks of Trust Self-Paced Training Series on our Online Learning Platform! Curious about what positive, progressive partnerships between water utilities and community groups may look like?
In this new series, developed in partnership with WaterNow Alliance, we dive into the specifics of building trust-based relationships sustainably and fairly. Based on case studies from 9 partnerships across the country, this training series integrates helpful readings, shareable resources, interactive reflections points, and more!
Learn more about the free Building Blocks of Trust training here.
How can we tell the story of program funding in a way that maps long-term, interconnected impacts in a community? River Network staff member Renée Mazurek came upon one potential answer in Ripple Effects Mapping (REM). In this episode, Renée narrates her experiences with REM, from speaking with Scott Chazden, an original author of the tool, to putting REM to work during a listening session with Flow Fund recipients in Orange, NJ. REM is an especially powerful way to visualize the rippling impacts of Flow Funding, a trust-based philanthropy approach that moves away from traditional, quantitative impact reporting in favor of impact stories.
Tapping Into Federal Funding: Resources
January’s federal funding pause continues to affect River Network, countless members, and ultimately the dollars that are meant to be flowing into communities to make the lives of people better through clean water, flood protection, community resilience, and tree planting programs. We are continuing to work together with all of you in the network to face this reality head-on. Here’s what you can do:
If you are a funder, you are likely already considering how you can release flexible funds immediately. Keep checking in with your grantees to see what they need.- Reach out to your Members of Congress. It’s critical that they hear from constituents like you about the real-world positive difference federal funds are making to ensure clean water, flood protection, and resilience for your community.
- Share your experiences. Help us be the bridge between on-the-ground impacts and national partners and allies. Fill out this form to share the impacts on your organization and/or community to show the importance of these funds and how they impact water, people, and community.
- Check in with your community. We must face challenges by caring for each other, sharing where we have the resources and skills, and asking for help where we need it most. We host many peer groups where you can find community.
- Take care of yourself. Do whatever you need to remember why you do this critical work. Remember that rest is resistance, too.
Please keep sharing what you’re hearing and our staff will continue to do the same. All of us at River Network remain a resource, and we remain a friend. Some resources we’ve found helpful:
Community Science Solutions: Documenting the Impacts of Contamination in Land, Air, and Water
March 13, 10a PT/1p ET
This session with the Urban Waters Learning Network will dive into case study examples of effective community science efforts around the country. You’ll learn how practitioners leverage funding sources and technical support to engage communities in data gathering and analysis, and work together to develop solutions that contribute to overall community health and wellbeing.
Ohio Spotlight: Lessons Learned from a Cost-Benefit Analysis of Lead Pipe Removals
March 26, 12p PT/3p ET
Hear from Ohio Environmental Council’s Annalisa Rocca and Scioto Analysis’ Rob Moore about their study on the costs and benefits of lead pipe removals in Ohio. The one-hour discussion will cover the importance of removing lead from our drinking water systems, how this cost-benefit analysis was completed and used, and a look at the long-term goals for Ohio and other states facing this same issue.
Register for Lessons Learned from Cost-Benefit Analysis of Lead Pipe Removals.
One Water Summit
July 8-11
Registration is open for the 2025 One Water Summit in Pittsburgh, PA! Since 2016, One Water Summit has sparked innovation by creating unique spaces for collaboration through engaging plenaries and workshops, dynamic learning labs and site-visits, and plenty of networking time between individuals, organizations, and delegations.
Inform the Biodiversity Workshop Series
The America the Beautiful for All Coalition wants to provide you with resources to advance equity-centered biodiversity conservation. Take the 5-10 minute survey to inform these workshops. Take the 5-10 minute survey to inform these workshops.
Complete TREC’s Salary & Benefits Survey
Together Rising for the Environmental Community (TREC) has launched its 2025 Salary & Benefits Survey and your participation will get you a free report when it’s released this summer. Help TREC build North America’s largest Salary & Benefits Report for the environmental community, an important tool for your organization.
Learn more and complete TREC’s Salary & Benefits Survey by March 7.
Hydro20 Nominations
Hydro20 is a new annual celebration of 20 individuals who are driving change, disrupting norms, and doing good for water sustainability across the United States. The award is looking for people from every sector – advocacy, conservation, engineering, environmental justice, and more. Hydro20 isn’t a lifetime achievement award – it’s for those doing cool stuff in water today!
“Stay steady” – Resources from The Management Center
River Network leadership and all staff have looked to resources from The Management Center for years to inform our work and support our entire staff. They have a wealth of resources to offer that are highly relevant at this moment in time. Explore their resources, trainings, and recursos en Español.
Water for Everybody Campaign
The “Water For Everybody” Campaign Collaboration between We the People of Detroit (WPD) and Detroit vs. Everybody is raising awareness and driving action to ensure water justice for all. Together, we can make water accessible for everyone.
American Rivers Launches the Protected Rivers Explorer
This groundbreaking new inventory and web tool that provide us an in-depth understanding of the current state of river and freshwater protection across the United States for the first time. The Protected Rivers Explorer allows you to navigate the conservation values that rivers and their watersheds provide, identify which rivers are currently protected, and daylight opportunities for where new protections are possible.
What We’re Reading
- 🌱 “Bioregional Flow Funding Opens New Grassroots Possibilities” – Syd Harvey Griffith’s article dives into Flow Funding through a bioregional lens.
- 📖 Poetry of Presence – edited by Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby R. Wilson, this anthology of mindfulness poetry is grounding and inspirational any time, but especially in these first months of 2025.
- 💧”National voter poll on resilience, infrastructure” and “The State of Resilience” – two new Water Hub resources include invaluable information for your organization’s messaging and communications.
- 🗞️ “Trump funding freeze could leave communities on their own as climate threats grow” – NPR reporting on effects of the federal funding freeze details real-world examples of what communities are facing and what could lie ahead.
- 🚰 “324 contaminants found in drinking water systems across US: Research” – This year’s update to the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Tap Water Database reveal that millions of people could be consuming water tainted with toxic chemicals, heavy metals and radioactive compounds, often at levels much higher than what scientists consider safe.
- 🗣️ How States Can Lead on Water: The Critical Role of Innovative Funding and Public Awareness – a new US Water Alliance policy brief offers strategies for and examples of states leading the way in adopting creative water funding solutions and gaining public support.
