Project partners
Since 2019, Seattle Public Utilities has been working in collaboration with many partners to connect with communities across the city and co-create the Shape Our Water plan for Seattle’s next 50 years of resilient drainage and wastewater systems.
Project partners help us learn from outside expertise and surface the values and goals of community members during plan development. When community sets the priorities for change, we can ensure that future investments in Seattle’s drainage and wastewater system bring economic, health, and quality of life benefits to people who have been historically under-served and who lack equal access to resources and opportunity.
Design team
Design Team members lent their expertise about issues important to the community and elevated those issues within the drainage and wastewater context. Their hands-on involvement included recruiting event speakers and attendees, exploring ways to reduce barriers to participation, gathering topical resources, and helping facilitate events. The Design Team also helped distill post-event feedback to contribute to the Community Vision.
Community stories
As part of the Shape Our Water project, we invited community-based organizations throughout Seattle to tell us about their connections to urban waters, and what they value about how water shapes their lives. Community storytelling during Shape Our Water happened through close collaboration between the storytellers and a team of professional writers, broadcasters, and artists. Together, our co-creators and production partners explored the power of storytelling to illuminate what matters most to us as individuals and as a community.
Planner Tim Lehman (Northern Arapaho) working with United Indians of All Tribes at Discovery Park. Photo by Chloe Collyer.
RVC Green Pathways Fellow Cly Samson at Danny Woo Community Garden in the International District. Photo by Chloe Collyer.
Jessica Juarez-Wagner with United Indians of All Tribes at Golden Gardens Park. Photo by Chloe Collyer.
DRCC member Magdalena Angel-Cano in South Park. Photo by Chloe Collyer.
Community organizer Fania Sipili at Be'er Sheva Park in Rainier Beach. Photo by Chloe Collyer.
Scientist, artist, and small business owner Pah-tu Pitt of Native Kut, at Longfellow Creek. Photo by Chloe Collyer.
Urban planner Ishmael Nuñez, part of the Shape Our Water design team.
Editor, writer, educator, and activist Matt Remle (Hunkpapa Lakota), part of the Shape Our Water design team.
Designer, planner, and community specialist Jescelle Major, part of the Shape Our Water design team.
Environmental justice organizer, educator, and advocate Nancy Huizar, part of the Shape Our Water design team.
Community partnership and planning specialist Michelle Benetua, part of the Shape Our Water design team.
Landscape designer Biruk Belay, part of the Shape Our Water design team.
Herbalist, educator, writer, and cultural worker Shelagh Brown, a member of the Alphabet Alliance of Color. Photo by Chloe Collyer.
Labateyah Youth Home program director Jenna Gearhart. Photo by Chloe Collyer.
Journalist and publisher Marcus Harrison Green of the South Seattle Emerald, part of the Shape Our Water community stories team.
Educator, organizer, and KVRU 105.7 station manager Luzviminda Uzuri “Lulu” Carpenter, part of the Shape Our Water community stories team.
Producer and programmer Lisl Stadler, volunteer at KVRU 105.7 FM and part of the Shape Our Water community stories team.
Photojournalist and photographer Chloe Collyer, part of the Shape Our Water community stories team.
Nya Shahir at Carkeek Park. Portrait by Chloe Collyer.
Jayce Marrakesh at Carkeek Park. Photo by Chloe Collyer.