Sometimes, the enormity of something you’ve undertaken stops you in your tracks. You have moments when you wonder “what the hell was I thinking?” Then the people who are helping you do the seemingly impossible rapidly push or pull you, and you take a breath and carry on. That’s what I felt like in late October. And on November 6, I was promptly pushed and pulled by dozens of brilliant people who didn’t think it was impossible at all. Our Rural Washington Water Infrastructure Financing Workshop, co hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, was a great day. We found more people to help us do the impossible: identify financing vehicles and collaborative models that incorporate private and philanthropic investments to help rural communities fund their water infrastructure.
After joining an impromptu tech team at IACC in early October that focused on the Yakima Tieton Irrigation District’s main canal project, we wanted to help and saw an opportunity to get this massive, massively important project in front of the workshop participants. It became the case study for the afternoon session. And what a session it was. If you are not aware of what happened to the canal, or the importance of the canal to the Yakima Valley, or the magnitude of what’s involved, I encourage you to do a little reading. Everyone in the room on November 6 came together around Travis Okelberry and Todd Hunziker, drawing on their expertise and connections to come up with ideas and suggestions, and made commitments to help. You can bet yours truly noted those commitments and is following up accordingly and often 😉
Speaking of follow-up, our next meeting, now known as the PRISTINE Water Initiative, will be held via Zoom on December 17 from 10 to 11:30 am. We’ll be hearing about how we can apply New Market Tax Credits to these projects, with presentations from Olivia Rebanal at Ecotrust and Steven Phan with Craft3. If you’d like to join, let me know and I’ll send you the link – we’d love to have you participate.
And with the sending of this email, I am officially on vacation for a few days. I am happy to report our turkey is thawing nicely, and I’ve only forgotten three things for my last minute store dash tomorrow. I hope you and yours have a wonderful, cozy and safe Thanksgiving with the people you love (or at least like a fair amount).
Take care,
Jody
