Impact and Programs
Accomplishments
Freshwater’s policy work lurched ahead with the issuance of multiple technical reports and speaking engagements to disseminate our recommendations for action. We presented to the Regional Council of Mayors, Scott County Association for Leadership and Efficiency National Association of State Conservation Agencies annual meeting, Northwest Hennepin League of Municipalities, MN Water Resources Conference, Ramsey County State of Water annual meeting, MN Section of the American Water Works Association conference, University of Minnesota. We directly influenced a number of stakeholder processes including the Clean Water Council, state agencies, Interagency Water Reuse task force,
We also hosted multiple events including Moos lectures, Road Salt Symposium, Clean Water Summit, climate resiliency planning, water reuse workshop, and the State of Water Conference.
Our Master Water Stewards program continues to expand and the projects they have completed are now infiltrating over one million gallons of rainwater each year. We are beginning expansion outside of the metro area with the addition of several watershed organizations and conversion to an online curriculum.
Our calendar program continues with great success selling over 20,000 calendars annually. We were thrilled to be able to bring back the engagement calendars last year after a 3 year time period when this version of the calendar was not produced.
Internally, the Board reviewed and updated our Strategic Plan, and have been discussing potential metrics for use with our Strategic Plan to more easily gauge progress.
Current Goals
Advocate for state and local policies, improved effectiveness, and implementation that supports the reduction and prevention of the most significant sources of (mostly) agricultural and (some) urban non-point pollution; Advocate for state and local policies, improved effectiveness, and implementation that ensures a sustainable supply of clean groundwater; Increase public awareness and citizen engagement to address local non-point pollution and groundwater issues; Continue to strengthen the organization and brand
Community or Constituency Served
As an environmental organization FWS serves the entire community by educating and inspiring people to value, conserve, and protect freshwater resources
Geographic Area Served
FWS mainly serves the State of MN
