River Voices: April 2025
Welcome to the April 2025 edition of River Voices. This month, we’re thrilled to release a new Water Funding section of the State Policy Hub and share a moving conversation with Susana De Anda in the latest episode of our At the Water Table podcast.
Progress and power at the state level is an important balance as federal priorities shift. River Network is here with resources for our own network of advocates in those Capitol trenches, creating a future of clean water and healthy rivers for all, one policy at a time. We see you: advocates working tirelessly at your state Capitol, and we hope the resources in the State Policy Hub make your work easier and more impactful. Our collective power when we learn from each other can’t be stopped.
This month, hear from Amy Boal on developing the new Water Funding section of the State Policy Hub, and explore policies related to Stormwater & Green Infrastructure and State Revolving Funds.
We’ve built [the Oregon Water Futures] network over time… A lot of the relationship building is not centered around water. We start with sharing a meal when we meet with new organizations, talking about ourselves, getting to know each other and the community members. Over time we start to talk about water and its impacts.”
– Cheyenne Holliday, Advocacy Director at Verde, featured in the SPH
“Policies and regulations reflect choices and priorities of those in power, and we have historic and ongoing work to do to reshape how low-income communities and communities of color are impacted by water policies and other environmental and economic policies that leave their health, livelihoods, and neighborhoods at risk.”
Drinking Water Director Erin Kanzig is one of the main brains behind the State Policy Hub.
Grants are the backbone of funding for so many nonprofit organizations, but managing them can often feel stressful, reactive, and disorganized. We’ve heard the challenges from across the network, and many of them can be solved with improved processes and more seamless collaboration. If you’ve ever hit a snag in your grant management process and thought there has to be a better way – this series is for you! The episodes in this series provide a playbook of processes, tools, and strategies that will make your grant management more efficient and may even lead to more funding down the road.
From healthcare to “filter sharks” to advocacy on every level, Susana De Anda knows how to build a movement in which residents are empowered to engage in local governance and stand up for their right to clean and affordable drinking water. Susana says that building solutions in collaboration with residents is the key to building trust, and compels us all to become more informed about drinking water quality in our own neighborhoods.
Tapping Into Federal Funding: The Impact Map
The Impact Map shows the local impact of federal workforce, funding, and policy decisions, providing timely data—as it becomes available—on policy, funding, and workforce changes and their localized effect.
The map comes from The Impact Project, which is looking for additional peer reviewers and data to inform the map. Learn more on their site.
And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to share your experiences with federal funding. 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.
Join a Training Series in Our Online Learning Platform
Our Online Learning Platform offers cohort style, hybrid training courses (a mix of synchronous, interactive training and self-paced content) as well as entirely self-paced trainings to help grow and strengthen network members. Current topics include building trust with water utilities, the Clean Water Act, State Revolving Funds, and more.
Workforce Development and Brownfield Revitalization: The Emerald Trail Stewards Program
May 6, 10a PT/1p ET
In this webinar, Groundwork USA and Groundwork Jacksonville will explore brownfield revitalization and workforce development, highlighting the Emerald Trail Stewardship Program, which hires and trains local residents to construct and maintain The Emerald Trail, a 30-mile urban trail and park system connecting multiple former brownfield sites.
Register for the webinar on The Emerald Trail Stewards Program.
Wildfire Ready Action Planning Workshop
May 1, 9a PT/12p ET
In this virtual workshop, you’ll understand basics of Wildfire Ready Action Plans (WRAP) in Colorado and the purpose of the Wildfire Ready Watersheds program. Come to engage with peers and build a community of practice among WRAP leaders, develop relationships, and enhance work on WRAP planning.
Incubator Grant for Microhabitat Programs
The Incubator Grant, offered by Village and Wilderness, provides seed funding and guidance to help community-based organizations and local agencies plan and launch new microhabitat programs. These programs are multi-year, multi-site efforts to restore ecosystem function in the fragmented landscape using native plants and habitat-friendly management practices.
2025 Catalyst Fund Request For Proposals
The Network for Landscape Conservation is pleased to announce the 2025 funding round of the Catalyst Fund, which strives to accelerate the pace and practice of landscape conservation and stewardship across the United States by making strategic investments in strengthening the collaborative capacity of place-based, community-grounded Landscape Partnerships.
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.
What We’re Reading
- 🖱️ Defusing disinformation: How false water and climate facts spread – a great new blog from Water Hub on water disinformation.
- 🎥 “Recycling Tile Drain Water: How Farmers Can Reduce Runoff” – waterloop’s recent episode looks at an emerging practice to reduce nutrient runoff.
- 📊 2025 Value of Water Index – the 10th Value of Water index is an invaluable resource for your advocacy work, showing among other findings that bipartisan voter support for prioritizing reliable water access reached a new high this year.
- 🗺️ “Mapping Destruction” – new GIS modeling from NRDC reveals the disastrous impacts of Sackett v. EPA on America’s wetlands.
- 🎨 “Art and Environmental Awareness” – this Urban Waters Learning Network story map explores how, through community engagement and participation, artists establish new lines of communication between groups of people, such as scientists and young learners.
