Recently, River Network hosted in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The multi-day event featured attendees and presenters from around the country on topics surrounding water and rivers. Held right on the Grand River, I had the wonderful opportunity to connect with many people also passionate about working on water issues.
On my first day, I met other members of the Clean Water for All Coalition. During our meeting, we touched on the Coalition鈥檚 policy agenda, including the Coalition鈥檚 role in water quantity issues unique to the Mountain West, as well as other areas in the U.S. experiencing water shortages for the first time.
My second day was packed with stimulating sessions, which will help to inform my 425-page-so-far project that synthesizes EPA鈥檚 water infrastructure assistance opportunities. For example, the first session I attended walked through the experience of navigating Intended Use Plans. For the uninitiated, an Intended Use Plan is a document describing how funds received from EPA鈥檚 State Revolving Funds programs will be spent in a state or territory, as described by that state or territory. An Intended Use Plan is necessary to receive those funds from EPA, which are incredibly useful for addressing water access gaps across the United States.
I also attended a session entitled 鈥淟ocal to National Perspectives on Replacing the Nation鈥檚 Toxic Lead Pipes,鈥� which, among other things, illuminated what successful community engagement looks like within these EPA鈥檚 programs. I learned, for example, about how much more receptive a community can be when someone within that community鈥攔ather than an out-of-area federal employee鈥攊s the messenger on water quality issues. A message on water quality resonates differently when the person speaking about water quality is the grandchild of someone else in the community, for example.
Kayaking the Grand River, whose rapids are the origin of the City鈥檚 namesake, filled most of my third day. This experience was one of several field trips offered, and could have easily been one of my favorite parts of the Rally, had the other sessions not also been so informative. Sergio Cira Reyes, founder of Latino Outdoors Grand Rapids, and Raul Velasco, were our main guides and provided depth to our field trip with their descriptions of Roosevelt Park, the largest Latino neighborhood in Grand Rapids, where I would spend the rest of my time for the field trip.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Rincon Criollo, a fantastic Puerto Rican restaurant I鈥檇 return to should I find myself in Grand Rapids in the future. After lunch, we visited , where residents can borrow outdoor recreation gear like camping stoves, wet bags, and snow pants for free. The Library is 鈥減art of the Thrive Outside initiative, which looks to provide outdoor opportunities to underserved communities 鈥� particularly for people of color and in neighborhoods that have faced disproportionate barriers to the outdoors.鈥澛� After touring the Library, we went to Riverside Park, Grand Rapids鈥� first ADA accessible canoe and kayak launch.
At the last session of River Rally, Navigating Federal Funding: Local Voices, Diverse Solutions. Like the other sessions, I learned more about how attendees are attempting to wade through the many assistance opportunities EPA offers for water infrastructure. The short of it is that many communities are unable to access all Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction funds due to what I鈥檝e began referring to as the 鈥渨ater access information gap,鈥� i.e., the know-how required to both locate, track, and apply for these programs.
Equity and inclusion were woven into many parts of the programming, with several of the sessions featuring success stories鈥攁nd areas still needing attention鈥攖hat centered voices from communities that often stand to benefit most from water infrastructure programs. Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss happily exclaimed that fish caught in the River could be , which was not always the case. A reporter, whose invitation to interview I declined because I鈥檓 not a local, was interested in hearing opinions on , a process that faced a few setbacks but is still underway. The Library struck a chord with me; I personally did not experience the 鈥済reat outdoors鈥� until I moved to Colorado in 2019. I left River Rally feeling (cautiously) hopeful and re-energized because of these stories and the many others I heard that celebrated areas of progress while acknowledging plenty of room for more.
鹿 Jacqueline Francis, Gear Library Aims to Give Urban Families Outdoor Adventures, Wood8 (Oct. 11, 2021), .
Photo credit: Raul Velasco,