Home / COVID-19
A note on COVID-19
Triple Threat: COVID-19, Climate Change, Systemic Racism
The Water 100 Project is launching under the combined context of COVID-19 and Climate Change –two immediate and ongoing threats that increase our need to address regional and community resilience. Likewise, the historic uprisings against systemic racism have helped to focus attention on national inequities facing Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities including the legacy of environmental racism.
These threats accelerate access challenges to clean water for both people and nature. The Water 100 Project is focused on solutions that will support resilience, equity and economic recovery in these uncertain times.
New Opportunities
As we look toward rebuilding the economy and communities, we have the opportunity to:
- Ensure that clean water solutions are equitable and affordable by working collaboratively and in dialogue with BIPOC and other underserved communities across the Puget Sound region.
- Accelerate a “blue” clean-water economy. Water stewardship and economic recovery go hand in hand. Companies can advance both through developing, implementing, and advocating for “blue” recovery strategies that make us stronger in the face of change.
- Create a resilient, shock-proof future by investing in long-term, adaptable clean water strategies. The climate crisis is far from the only major destabilizing force we must become resilient to in the years and decades to come. We must also make our water systems resilient to other possible major disruptions, including global pandemics, extreme natural disasters, political unrest, and severe recessions.
Looking Ahead
While we have a long road to recovery ahead of us, we also have the opportunity to create a new and better future that solves for multiple challenges. For example, many of the most effective clean-water solutions embrace green infrastructure. As families work from home and practice social-distancing in urban areas, nature-based solutions, green spaces and tree canopy become critical for a variety of reasons to community well-being.
When reviewing the Water 100 solutions, consider the possibilities for rebuilding a future that is energized by a clean water economy, is equitable for all communities and provides water resilience for decades to come.