Engaging Communities

The Problem

The pandemic disconnected people from their communities, and in some cases the Columbia River. Across all of our program areas, Columbia Riverkeeper engages communities. The Engaging Communities program aims to connect people to the river and celebrate the diverse, vibrant cultures within river communities. This includes monitoring the river to give people the confidence to swim when and where it is safe. The reality: government agencies don’t routinely monitor water quality in the Columbia—let alone make data easily accessible to people in multiple languages. With access to water quality data and culturally-informed messaging, people can make choices to use the river—and get inspired to fight for clean water.

We will provide free bilingual (Spanish and English), hands-on environmental education programming to 700 youth and young adults from Gorge schools at the Nichols Natural Area in Hood River, OR.

Our Goals

• Listen to the wisdom of diverse people who love and rely on the Columbia
• Engage and inspire people to care about the Columbia River, clean water, salmon and other species, and people who rely on locally-caught fish
• Build and maintain relationships with Latina/ o/x communities, with a particular focus on the Columbia Gorge, to improve outreach and engagement on river issues and work in solidarity on select social justice issues
  
• Encourage active fishing and swimming in the Columbia and tributaries by collecting and sharing results from E. coli (bacteria) and harmful algal bloom monitoring in Portland and the Gorge.
• Use the Nichols Natural Area to create a high-quality, high-profile restoration and environmental education project while focusing on leadership and engagement that represents the people of the Gorge

Our Plan

Latina/o/x Environmental Justice Engagement

• Authentic outreach to Latina/o/xs in the Gorge on clean water and climate issues.
• Promote community conversation, engagement and share information through our bilingual (Spanish and English) “Conoce tu Columbia” radio show and podcast.

Water Quality Monitoring

• Monitor 20 Columbia River and tributary beaches and share information on Swim Guide in multiple languages.
• Launch a harmful algal bloom visual monitoring project; evaluate additional monitoring; and increase public awareness and policy solutions.
• Investigate strategic opportunities to monitor conventional or toxic pollutants

Columbia Gorge Pollution Prevention and Education and Outreach Project

• Provide free bilingual (Spanish and English), hands-on environmental education programming to 700 youth and young adults from Gorge schools at the Nichols Natural Area in Hood River, OR.
• Host pollution education and prevention webinars, events and associated social and earned media outreach.
• Update and expand our online middle-school curriculum, which offers easy-to-implement science units that tackle important environmental issues and inspire action by empowering students with the tools to think critically.
  
• Create a welcoming space along the Columbia for families and all community members to be part of the collective effort to restore the Nichols Natural Area and interact.
• Create bilingual pollution education outreach materials (fact sheets, emails, social media) to connect people to the river and emerging science on how pollution impacts people, water, and fish.