Urban Waters Learning Network

The latest UWLN story map focuses on Equitable Development for Urban Waters. See our Story Maps Page HERE for this and more interactive stories.

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Through large-scale restoration projects, the Elizabeth River Project and partners are repopulating the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River with native oysters to prove that oysters can tackle any job – even one of the most polluted tributaries in the watershed. ⁠
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With funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Five Star and Urban Waters grant, The Elizabeth River Project and communities are working together to restore five acres of oyster reefs to the river shoreline! ⁠

Read the full story on the Urban Waters Learning Network website

Our congratulations to the 2022 Urban Waters Learning Network awardees! These leaders have been chosen for recognition by their peers in the Urban Waters Learning Network (UWLN).

The UWLN is a partnership of the national nonprofits River Network and Groundwork USA. The Urban Waters Learning Network Awards, sponsored by the US EPA, celebrate significant achievements of individuals who have improved urban waterways and worked to engage the neighborhoods around them.

Read the full story on the Urban Waters Learning Network website

The Duwamish River is a 5.5 mile long Superfund site that flows through Seattle’s Duwamish Valley—a highly developed urban and industrial center south of downtown.

Most affected by the contamination are Seattle’s most marginalized and impoverished communities – low-income, homeless residents, immigrants and tribal fishing families.

Read the full story on the Urban Waters Learning Network website

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In 2012, Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association received a $60,000 EPA Urban Waters Small Grant to demonstrate that integrating green infrastructure into the urban landscape can begin to restore a hydrologic balance within Durham’s Ellerbe Creek. The project has helped quantify the extent to which green infrastructure can reduce excessive amounts of water and remove pollutants, while helping the City of Durham comply with regulations to clean up Falls Lake Reservoir.

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Baltimore, Maryland, home to over 30,000 vacant and abandoned lots and numerous economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, is also home to some of the most innovative job creation strategies and vacant lot reclamation projects in the nation.

Through the Baltimore Urban Waters Partnership, waterways are being cleaned up, communities are reconnecting with their urban waters, and abandoned lots are being transformed for community benefit.

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Youth from different areas in Los Angeles are creating positive change along the LA River through the River Ambassador program, a youth leadership and education program of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.

The program is designed to connect underserved youth with their river and to involve the teachers at each of the high schools participating in the program.

Read the full story on the Urban Waters Learning Network website

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