Collaborating for Water Justice.
The Oregon Water Futures project has learned that a vision for water justice in the state must engage low-income, rural, BIPOC, and migrant communities as community assets. These communities both contribute valuable culturally specific values and knowledge about how to best care for water for generations to come and provide insights into water resources, infrastructure, and management. These contributions and insights must be engaged for truly inclusive legislative and policy-making action in the state.
Judy Bluehorse Skelton / Eddie Sherman
It became clear in our online community gatherings and phone interviews with people in eight Oregon counties (Polk, Marion, Umatilla, Malheur, Multnomah, Clackamas, Lane, Clatsop) that BIPOC communities are either already active water actors in their local communities and the state, or wish to be. Their relationship to water resources transcends their presumed role as simply consumers. These are communities whose potential to advocate, educate, and act in response to statewide challenges regarding the health of ecosystems, water affordability, access to clean drinking water, decaying infrastructure, and emergency preparedness has been left mostly untapped, ignored, or unseen by agencies, utilities, and policymakers allocating funds and resources in those areas. In other words, our findings ask local, regional, and state institutions to treat low-income, rural, Native, BIPOC, and migrant communities not simply as people in need of government resources; but rather as social actors with the capacity to help the state address the water challenges it faces in the twenty-first century. Today, as we face challenges such as climate change, pollution, and increasing urbanization these require us all to be mindful of what it means to have a future for Oregon waters for all living beings.
In order to fulfill their potential as water actors, the communities we consulted named a clear series of shared areas of growth where government, private foundations, and utility investments can provide support. They also signal issues specific to their regional realities that are currently compiled in our report published at oregonwaterfutures.org/report. Policymakers and the usual water stakeholders can no longer shy away from these issues as adjacent to water management in planning for the future of Oregon’s water resources.
—
Quotes from Oregon Water Futures Participants
“The problem we have here is that the water is not drinkable. I mean, sometimes my wife struggles with water even to wash things because the water comes out very—smells very bad, it stinks like rotten, something like that. It smells really bad, and the people don’t even think about drinking it. Even when you want to brush your teeth, we don’t want to do it with that water.” - Don Javier
“Es muy importante crear espacios de conversaciones en nuestras comunidades sobre nuestro medio ambiente y el agua, enriquece nuestro conocimiento sobre prácticas de conservación que podemos implementar todos los días, a la misma vez que amplía nuestra conciencia para seguir abogando para garantizar acceso al agua limpia y accesible para todos. “
“It is very important to create spaces for conversations in our communities about our environment and water, it enriches our knowledge about conservation practices that we can implement every day, at the same time that it broadens our awareness to continue advocating to guarantee access to clean water and accessible to all.” - Tomás Bartolo, PCUN
“I think that that experience with that elder from the Ponca tribe has really taught me what it means to pray with water and to cleanse myself with water.” — Ashia (Klamath, Eugene)
“They say the water is good, but I’m not so sure because when I use it to cook, it looks as if it were dirty.” - Christina
“There is confusion around water quality and water sources, and how to interpret water bills . . . affordability is a concern and water rates are too expensive for the quality of water our communities feel they are receiving. The solutions to the issue of mistrust and affordability can be addressed by continuing to center our frontline communities - who are being impacted first and worst - into decision-making spaces. Invest in capacity for community-based organizations to continue to engage with historically and present-day marginalized communities.” - Jairaj Singh, Unite Oregon
"I was struck by the deep connection that many community members felt to water and the strong desire to learn more. Hopefully this project is just the beginning and helps to spur further community education and capacity building related to water justice" - Taren Evans, Coalition of Communities of Color
“I’m thirsty, but a little tree will grow in my belly with this dirt. What they were giving us isn’t good, it can be harmful.” - Norma
“Water is incorporated in my spiritual practices. Water has a name. There are deities and rituals associated with water.” - Donella Elizabeth-Alston
![“I was once at a park and I ran out of water while we were playing and riding bicycles and I drank water from [a drinking fountain]—you know they have water at the parks, I had water, not too much, but it made me sick.” - Josefina](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609d9e5f77619d2a9f89795d/1621873151298-HCSCWJLXIXPT43CUT5ZF/OWF+Instagram+Campaign_Josefina.jpg)
“I was once at a park and I ran out of water while we were playing and riding bicycles and I drank water from [a drinking fountain]—you know they have water at the parks, I had water, not too much, but it made me sick.” - Josefina
“It is important to note that the map for Indian tribes is not stagnant. It has changed, and it will continue to change.” - Rachel Cushman, Chinook Indian Nation