Water Conservation Website Empowers River and Aquifer Protection
The Spokane River Forum is pleased to announce launch of the Spokane – Kootenai Outdoor Watering Nerds Website, www.spokanewateringnerds.org.
The website empowers individuals to reduce water consumption one user and yard at a time. Simply put, the Forum believes in the proverb “If you give a person a fish, you feed them for a day. If you teach a person to fish, you feed them for a lifetime.”
From a water perspective, empowerment of individual action is key to protecting river flows in the summer, supporting aquifer needs, and limiting increases to water rates. What’s driving this need are forecasts showing an increase in Spokane County water demand of 40% by 2040, and 81% in Kootenai by 2045.
“Water conservation does not need to be onerous,” said Tonilee Hanson, who spearheaded development of the site. The website gives a range of informational and resource pages with tips for simple water conservation actions. There are videos and instructions for Do-It-Yourself (DIY) types, and a directory of professionals who can do the work for you.
Said Andy Dunau, Executive Director of the Forum, “The diversity and breadth of what’s available on the site is remarkable.” By the numbers, the website has 49 web pages with links to 246 external resources. In addition, there are links to 69 external videos and 56 videos embedded within the site.
Creation of the site also follows the Forum’s strategy of leveraging resources and partnerships. The Johnston-Fix Foundation provided the Forum with a generous grant. Their support was then leveraged with expertise and support from the Spokane Aquifer Joint Board (SAJB) and the Idaho Washington Aquifer Collaborative (IWAC).
In April, these same partners are launching a $30,000 digital media campaign promoting water conservation and use of the directory that will extend through September. Agencies will also be providing a link to Outdoor Watering Nerds from their websites.
Interested in meeting the developers and learning more? Come to the Spokane River Forum Conference April 26-27. Register now.