At River Rally 2019, we tried something new: Idea Exchanges. We wanted to offer attendees the opportunity to connect with each other, and to build their knowledge and network on the specific issues they are facing in their communities.

Idea Exchanges were held on four key issue areas: Safe, Clean, and Affordable Drinking Water; Water Laws and Policies; Building Resilient Cities and Communities; and Healthy Rivers in Agricultural Landscapes, as well as the topics of Civic Engagement and Our Vision for the Network of the Future.

Diana Toledo facilitates an Idea Exchange at River Rally 2019.

Below are the near-term next steps that emerged from the Idea Exchanges. Read on to learn what they are and how you can get involved to help move these initiatives forward. 

Also, we heard loud and clear that folks want to stay connected on these topics throughout the year. We will develop listservs for each of these key issues and topics. Stay tuned for more information on how to sign up.

Safe, Clean, and Affordable Drinking Water

• Pursuing Safe, Clean, & Affordable Drinking Water will again be a River Rally 2020 workshop theme. 

GET INVOLVED! Workshop proposals are being accepted NOW through October 1, 2019. We really hope you’ll propose a workshop and share your work to continue the discussion at River Rally 2020 in San Antonio, Texas, and encourage your colleagues to do the same!

• River Network will continue to leverage the value of the new Drinking Water Guide: A Resource for Advocates by offering continued training and train-the-trainer opportunities and templates for you to use in your own state.  
• River Network will provide learning opportunities – through virtual-trainings, sharing case studies during online peer-discussions, or connecting mentors with mentees – around two topics you highlighted that you wanted to learn more about: 

Equitable Infrastructure Funding: How drinking water infrastructure gets funded, who pays for it, and how to make sure funding goes where it’s needed most. 

GET INVOLVED! What funding programs are you familiar with (at the local, state, or national level) that have been used equitably? What are the best policies to advance sustainability and affordability? How can we connect upstream and downstream communities to pay for clean water? Contact Katherine Baer to join a call discussing how we can collectively develop a common understanding, provide training (as needed), and leverage action on these key questions and others.

Working – And Developing Trust – With Water System Leaders and Providers/Utilities: How to build better relationships with water systems and ensure that local communities can engage authentically with local water leaders.

GET INVOLVED! Are you working with your water system? Do you have examples of successful partnerships? Contact Katherine Baer to join a workgroup for developing a concept to break through the barriers that exist and come up with innovative strategies to build lasting ties between community members and water systems.

We are also excited to announce that Sheyda Esnaashari recently joined the River Network team as our new Great Lakes Drinking Water Program Manager to support these efforts!

Water Laws and Policies

• Advancing Robust & Effective Water Laws & Policies will again be a River Rally 2020 workshop theme.

GET INVOLVED! Workshop proposals are being accepted NOW through October 1, 2019. We really hope you’ll propose a workshop on the local, state, or federal policy issues you’re working on to continue the discussion at River Rally 2020 in San Antonio, Texas, and encourage your colleagues to do the same! 

• River Network will offer opportunities to connect and share ideas with colleagues on state and federal policy throughout the year, and at River Rally 2020.

GET INVOLVED! If you haven’t already, sign up for our Water Policy Update emails to receive important information about federal policy issues.

GET INVOLVED! Participate in the “Water Policy Update and Exchange” calls we host with Earth Justice, PolicyLink, and Clean Water Network. These calls are a way to learn more about current water policy issues, ask questions, share information, and find out how to take action. Sign up for our Water Policy Update emails to get invitations to the calls.

• River Network will research policy compendia (i.e. reports or other resources that list examples of specific types of policy) that already exist and share those with you.

GET INVOLVED! If you know of policy compendia we should put on the list, let us know!

Building Resilient Cities and Communities

• Building Resilient Cities and Communities will again be a River Rally 2020 workshop theme. We have also added a new theme for 2020: Addressing Climate Risk for Greater Water Security.

GET INVOLVED! Workshop proposals are being accepted NOW through October 1, 2019. We really hope you’ll propose a workshop and share your work to continue the discussion at River Rally 2020 in San Antonio, Texas, and encourage your colleagues to do the same!

• The Urban Waters Learning Network is hosting a webinar series to help participants build community and climate resilience through education, mitigation, and planning.

GET INVOLVED! Register now for Anti-Displacement Strategies: Environmental Restoration… Meet Affordable Housing (Sept. 26, 2019) and stay tuned for future webinars.

• River Network will include leaders whose work is centered on building community resilience to the “practitioner profiles” section of the Urban Waters Learning Network website.
  

GET INVOLVED! Let us know if you’d like to be included.

• Over the next year, River Network will develop a resource guide and toolkit that includes practical information on using “community-based participatory research” approaches to assess local climate risks – stay tuned!

River Network also encourages all to explore the Resource Library on the Urban Waters Learning Network website. This toolbox is loaded with resources related to climate and community resilience, including Impact Stories that showcase on-the-ground projects that promote resilience. You can find tools by either keyword or resource type, or both.

Healthy Rivers in Agricultural Landscapes

• Working with Farmers and Ranchers will again be a River Rally 2020 workshop theme.

GET INVOLVED! Workshop proposals are being accepted NOW through October 1, 2019. We really hope you’ll propose a workshop and share your work to continue the discussion at River Rally 2020 in San Antonio, Texas, and encourage your colleagues to do the same!

• River Network will ask all of the 2019 Working with Farmers and Ranchers theme presenters to reach out to others in their networks and encourage them to submit proposals to present at River Rally 2020, especially to encourage more workshops related to water quantity, as there were very few on this topic at River Rally 2019. 
• River Network will leverage some of the great Rally 2019 workshops on this theme by offering “encores” via virtual-trainings. 

GET INVOLVED! If there is a session from River Rally 2019 you really want an encore of, let us know! (Here’s a link to the 2019 program to jog your memory.)

• River Network will keep tabs on upcoming trainings related to Healthy Rivers in Agricultural Landscapes and be sure to highlight at least one exceptional case study we learn about over the next year. We’ll make sure you know about all these efforts via our monthly River Voices email and communications to members.

GET INVOLVED! If you hear about a training we should be sure to share, let us know!

Civic Engagement

• Civic Participation & Our Water Future will again be a River Rally 2020 workshop theme.

GET INVOLVED! Workshop proposals are being accepted NOW through October 1, 2019. We really hope you’ll propose a workshop and share your work to continue the discussion at River Rally 2020 in San Antonio, Texas, and encourage your colleagues to do the same!

• River Network will lead efforts to develop civic engagement toolkits. These will be a mixture of virtual-trainings and one-page templates that organizations can make their own to support their civic engagement efforts. 

GET INVOLVED! Tell us about your favorite civic engagement resources, from training kits, to case studies, to resource guides, and more!

Our Vision for the Network of the Future

• River Network is developing more ways for you to be involved in developing the River Rally program and lineup each year.

GET INVOLVED! If you’d like to assist us in reviewing workshop proposals that address issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion, let us know!

• River Network will continue to explore how we can we can support River Rally participation for more people of color and young people via scholarships and through inclusive social networking opportunities.
  

GET INVOLVED! If you’d like to be part of next year’s Inclusion at Rally ad-hoc committee, let us know. 

Stay tuned for more information on how to be further involved!