Empowered Stakeholders
Upgrading the water systems in New Jersey’s cities and towns is a generational challenge that must serve the residents and businesses who pay the bills, and the elected officials responsible for addressing a host of community issues.
Effective community engagement processes feature active the participation of community partners and ratepayers, who are able to influence the planning and management of their water infrastructure. Community support is also reflected in municipal plans, ordinances.
Resources
Assessing Public Input and Consideration of Green Infrastructure in NJ CSO Reports
This paper, Assessing Public Input and Consideration of Green Infrastructure in NJ CSO Reports, assesses how well the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Development and Evaluation of Alternatives Reports meet the Jersey Water Works (JWW) goals for “Smart CSO Plans.”
The Development and Evaluation of Alternative Reports (DEARs) were submitted to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) in July 2019, with a deadline for the final LTCPs of October 2020. The committee reviewed 24 reports submitted on behalf of 25 permit holders; some reports were consolidated based on regional reports. Nine regional collaborations of sewage treatment plants and municipal permit holders worked together on the development and evaluation of alternatives. Of the 25 permit holders, the City of Trenton was the single permit holder not included in this review because the City has already submitted its LTCP.
This paper summarizes the committee’s findings, with focus on the types of alternatives evaluated, green infrastructure considerations, and extent of public participation.
Drinking Water Guide: A Resource for Advocates
The River Network’s Drinking Water Guide is a first step in galvanizing a national network of advocates for safe, clean, affordable, and sustainable drinking water and drinking water systems. River Network hopes that the guide will serve as a key resource for groups and individuals working on these issues to better understand, integrate, and elevate issues of equity and justice as part of their drinking water advocacy.
Handout: Water Infrastructure Drives New Jersey’s Economy
In order to lay the groundwork for wide-scale transformation of New Jersey’s water infrastructure systems, members of the Jersey Water Works collaborative have prioritized educating the public and elected and appointed officials on the importance of taking care of water infrastructure. This booklet is a tool for doing so and Jersey Water Works encourages all to make this economic case to their local and state elected and appointed officials today.
State Policymakers’ Toolkit
To spotlight the important role that state governments can play in advancing sustainable water management, US Water Alliance and the Council of State Governments developed this State Policymaker’s Toolkit as a resource for elected officials and staff in the executive and legislative branches of state government. For each of the Seven Big Ideas (below), they briefly summarize the key issues and then provide real world examples of how states are forging progress. The promising examples are not meant to be prescriptive, but rather serve as a starting place for the generation of potential solutions that are specific to individual state contexts. For research purposes, these examples include endnote citations back to the legislative or regulatory language that was passed and/or implemented.
Seven Big Ideas:
- Advance regional collaboration on water management
- Accelerate agriculture-utility partnerships to improve water quality
- Sustain adequate funding for water infrastructure
- Blend public and private expertise and investment to address water infrastructure needs
- Redefine affordability for the 21st century
- Reduce lead risks, and embrace the mission of protecting public health
- Accelerate technology adoption to build efficiency and improve water service
Fact Sheet for Press Kits: New Jersey Water Infrastructure
To support media coverage of New Jersey’s water infrastructure issues, this fact sheet for press kits offers background information on water infrastructure in the state. It is a product of the Jersey Water Works Education and Outreach Committee whose goal is to promote well-informed decision makers, community partners, residents and ratepayers and their active participation and influence in the planning and management of their water infrastructure.
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