Three Rivers Watershed Action Network and Leadership Incubator

Our ‘Accelerating Transformational Change in Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers’ Phase 1 Heinz Endowment funded study explored the challenges and opportunities for water resource management in Southwestern Pennsylvania.  It concluded that only through taking a systematic and integrated approach, with establishment of cooperation and trust across boundaries – geographical, jurisdictional, political, social and cultural – could the current water system chal­lenges in Southwest Pennsylvania be effectively and efficiently addressed.

As such, this phase 2 project, running from June 2019-June 2021, concentrates efforts on four interconnected components:

• The creation of a ‘Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Network’ – linking up water stakeholder organizations and communities, and better connecting local initiatives to leverage successes and lessons learned and amplify the political importance of this local work;
• The development of a ‘Southwestern Pennsylvania Watershed Leadership Incubator’ – identifying, developing, and equipping the next generation of diverse regional water leaders with those collaborative leadership skills and relationships necessary for long-term impact;
• Development assistance for a robust watershed-wide water data collec­tion, monitoring, and communication framework; and
• Provision of strategic technical and financial assistance and support to a number of small towns and municipalities within the Three Rivers region that are currently suffering from insuf­ficient capacity to deliver the water services for which they are responsible.