Commitment to Charting New Waters Grows
Multiple Organizations Added at Significant New Phase of Action
RACINE, Wis., March 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread announced that more than 55 new organizations have joined Charting New Waters, a growing alliance of leading organizations calling for action to avert a looming U.S. freshwater crisis. The latest voices to join the call include business, agriculture, academia and environmental institutions.
"This is an exciting time to join Charting New Waters as we continue to tackle one of the nation's most critical challenges, our freshwater resources," said Lynn Broaddus, Director, Environment Programs at The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread. "These newest alliances represent significant progress in bringing together the best and brightest and demonstrate that there is major support from a diverse set of stakeholders eager to take a leading role in improving our nation's freshwater policy."
Those joining the effort agree with the principles laid out in "Charting New Waters: A Call to Action to Address U.S. Freshwater Challenges" issued in September 2010 by the 20 original participants of The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread's Freshwater Summit. The consensus report identifies the serious challenges facing freshwater in the United States and offers specific recommendations to address the risks associated with inaction.
The new participating organizations have also issued their own public commitments to freshwater issues on the Charting New Waters website. For a full list of those commitments, click here.
The following are just a few examples of the specific actions being taken by the new organizations signing on to Charting New Waters:
"We are now committing resources to develop additional new tools that will raise awareness of water's critical and central role to both social and economic development."
"We will continue to engage both farmers and the public around the challenges and solutions of maintaining a clean supply of freshwater. We will continue to meet with agricultural producers to discuss ways to overcome barriers to improvements in how they manage their land resources and will seek to implement the appropriate policies."
"We will advocate for sustainable freshwater policies at the federal, state, regional and local levels. We will work with industries to reduce consumptive water use. We will assist water utilities in developing cost-effective conservation programs and in adopting conservation pricing structures."
The voice of the alliance is growing at a vital time as Charting New Waters moves into a significant new phase to broaden and strengthen its network by reaching out to more stakeholders and local communities. As part of this effort, Charting New Waters will organize regional forums across the nation to create better awareness of freshwater challenges and showcase real solutions.
Charting New Waters recommends streamlining coordination among federal, state and local governments and other sectors of society; creating a national commission to address our freshwater challenges; and improving accounting and reporting mechanisms in order to better understand the true value of freshwater resources.
Charting New Waters is actively engaging new organizations to join the coalition. If you are interested in making a commitment, please click here.
The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread is dedicated to serving as a catalyst for change by bringing together leading thinkers and inspiring new solutions on major environmental and regional issues. For additional information about Charting New Waters, or to learn more about The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread, please visit www.johnsonfdn.org.
SOURCE The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread
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