Summer is the time to soak it all in
Photo courtesy of Seattle Parks and Recreation, Flickr, Creative Commons.
A day barbecuing at the beach with friends. Fishing off the dock with grandpa. Childhood glee while learning to swim under the shade of lakeside trees. There’s something about soaking in the summer sunshine that makes Seattle’s waterbodies even more special.
This summer, Shape Our Water is making space to celebrate our waters at the Seattle Design Festival on August 17 & 18 – and you’re invited!
This year’s Festival theme of “What if?” inspired us to imagine a water future that’s made by all of us. Shape Our Water is teaming up with local artists Nina Vichayapai and Britta Johnson to create an installation at the Festival’s opening weekend Block Party that is free, hands-on, and open to all ages and abilities.
Make your own “Raindrop Run” at this fun, colorful, and interactive event. Using marbles and modular game pieces, you’ll create your own stormwater pathway and attempt to “slow the flow” by co-designing drainage solutions with other Seattle Design Festival attendees at Lake Union Park. What design ideas will you use to create the slowest travel time for your raindrop?
Learn more about Raindrop Run at the Seattle Design Festival >
Grease interceptors keep FOG from entering sewer pipes.
Shape Our Water has a “what if” question at its core: what’s possible when water management projects are shaped by community priorities?
Since the beginning of Shape Our Water, we’ve known that collaboration is essential if we want to create a 50-year plan for Seattle’s water resilience that reflects the lived experience of our community.
Even though the Shape Our Water Plan is still in development, the project’s Community Vision is already changing many aspects of how Seattle Public Utilities pursues new investments. How does it happen? One example comes from our Fats, Oils, & Grease (FOG) program.
Community vision priority: multi-benefit investments
Fund community entrepreneurship and wealth building programs that focus on environmental stewardship and infrastructure management.
Vision in action
In 2023, SPU trained eight people on how to effectively clean restaurant grease traps and start their own businesses to offer this service, which prevents backups and overflows in clogged wastewater systems. This program allowed us to invest in community entrepreneurship and local workforce development while also meeting Seattle Municipal Code.
