Oregon Water Futures

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https://hdl.handle.net/1794/28541

The Oregon Water Futures Project is a collaboration between the University of Oregon, water and environmental justice interests, Indigenous peoples, communities of color, and low-income communities. Through a water justice lens, we aim to impact how the future of water in Oregon is imagined through storytelling, capacity building, relationship building, policy-making, and community-centered advocacy at the state and local level.

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    Oregon Water Justice Framework: Community-Driven Principles and Priorities to Advance Water Justice
    (University of Oregon, 2022-11) Brown, Lynny; Dalgaard, Stacey; Evans, Taren; Gastellum, Jana; Holliday, Cheyenne; Medina, Perla; Poton, Rose; Reyes-Santos, Alaí; Oregon Water Futures
    Since Oregon’s founding, water resource decisions have created wealth for some and disparities for others — starting with broken treaties between the US government and sovereign tribal nations to exclusionary practices that relegated Black communities to areas prone to flooding or without access to potable water. There are workspaces and housing without proper access to water and sanitation that disproportionately impact low-income, rural, and migrant households. The cost of much-needed infrastructure upgrades is passed down through water bills, hitting customers struggling to cover basic expenses. And despite interest and desire, community members can’t easily access decision-making processes that dictate how we care for and sustain water for generations to come.
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    State of Water Justice in Oregon: A Primer on How Oregon Water Infrastructure Challenges Affect Frontline Communities Across the State
    (University of Oregon, 2022-08) Oregon Environmental Council; Oregon Water Futures; Dalgaard, Stacey
    Clean water is foundational to every aspect of our lives — community health, spiritual and cultural fulfillment, a strong economy, relaxation and recreation, and thriving ecosystems. Yet, Oregonians have no guaranteed right to clean water. This leaves people vulnerable to the impacts of poor water quality, lack of access to water, unaffordable water costs, and diminished natural resources. This report builds on existing research to provide statewide context to water challenges identified by frontline communities.1 Snippets of national research, media reports, and anecdotes viewed together begin to paint a picture of how to understand water justice in Oregon. However, broader analysis comparing Oregon water issues in the context of social vulnerability and environmental justice is still needed. Many of these issues affect everyone, but frontline and low-income communities are impacted by compounding challenges that multiply the negative impacts of water problems and make it harder to adapt to them.
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    Oregon Water Futures Project Report: 2020-21 Community Engagement
    (University of Oregon, 2021) Reyes-Santos, Alaí; Holliday, Cheyenne; Dalgaard, Stacey; Evans, Taren; Witherill, Kristiana Teige
    The Oregon Water Futures Project is a collaboration between the University of Oregon, water and environmental justice interests, Indigenous peoples, communities of color, and low-income communities. Through a water justice lens, we aim to impact how the future of water in Oregon is imagined through storytelling, capacity building, relationship building, policymaking, and community-centered advocacy at the state and local level. In 2020, project partners co-conceptualized and facilitated a series of conversations with Native, Indigenous Latin American, Latinx, Black, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, Arab, and Somali communities, including webinars on Oregon water systems, phone interviews, and virtual online gatherings. These conversations lifted up culturally specific ways of interacting with drinking water and bodies of water; concerns around water quality and cost; resiliency in the face of challenges to access water resources essential for physical, emotional, and spiritual health; and a desire for water resource education and to be better equipped to advocate for water resources.
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    Oregon Water Futures Project Report Summary 2020-2021
    (University of Oregon, 2021) Oregon Water Futures
    A changing climate, aging infrastructure across the state, and lack of ongoing investment in clean water have left Oregon’s water systems stressed, putting our health, safety, economy and environment at risk. Communities of color, particularly those that are rural and low-income, are often on the frontlines of these impacts, facing a wide range of threats, including rising utility rates, disparities in drought and flooding vulnerability, and exposure to nitrates, pesticides, and heavy metals. In recognition of these challenges and the increasing vulnerability of our water resources, the Oregon Water Futures Project was formed to elevate water priorities from communities currently underrepresented or historically discriminated against in water policy decision-making.