The Puget Sound region is home to some of the most innovative companies on the planet, forward thinking NGOs, world-class research institutions and people who care deeply about our environment.
A new initiative is driving to align this incredible pool of talent and ingenuity to tackle one of the most pressing challenges facing our region – how to address the threats of pollution, development and climate change to the body of water that defines this region, Puget Sound itself.
Plants and mosses on buildings can slow the flow of stormwater, remove pollutants and also clean the air. © istock
“None of us can solve the challenges of Puget Sound on our own,” says Jessie Israel, our Puget Sound Conservation Director. Through the Water 100 Project, an initiative of The Nature Conservancy and the Puget Sound Partnership, we’re creating a movement that brings together the Puget Sound business, government, NGO and scientific communities to identify, assess, fund and implement the 100 most substantive solutions for improving our region’s water.
Case stories of corporate innovation
It’s hardly a new idea to reach out to Puget Sound’s corporate leaders, Israel told Jeff Rice at the Puget Sound Institute. But identifying specific projects and where to direct their efforts has often proved difficult. Inspired by the book Drawdown, which sought to identify the 100 most effective ways to reduce carbon emissions, the Water 100 Project will quantify and rank the top 100 most substantive solutions for a clean and resilient Puget Sound and seek corporate commitments to use their own expertise to take meaningful action toward a water resilient future.
Participation will be good for corporate bottom lines as well. While many corporations acknowledge impending water and climate risks, nearly half do not have a plan to manage those risks. Without embracing new approaches, many businesses will see their potential dependence on water and energy go up, rather than down. The Water 100 Project will help businesses proactively solve the issues that will otherwise disrupt and risk their business operations. Boeing has been instrumental in elevating this conversation with the business community in the Puget Sound area.
Together, we can bring a business lens to demonstrating scalable, sustainable solutions to the water crisis and take meaningful collective action toward a water-resilient future. As climate change threatens our region’s water quality and quantity, the time to act is now.
The goals of the Water 100 Project are to:
Build a movement with businesses, NGOs, scientists, engineers and public entities.
Inspire commitment to take urgent, performance-driven action.
Celebrate successful case stories of investments in the most impactful solutions.
Harness data collection of pilot projects to extrapolate performance on a watershed scale.
Quantify and rank the top 100 most substantive solutions for a clean and resilient Puget Sound.
In the News:
Puget Sound Institute: Water 100 Project seeks to enlist region’s tech industry
