Community Engagement and Stewardship Services

The Vendor is required to provide a world-class regional utility that helps the people and businesses in the region grow and thrive by providing wastewater and storm water management services with a watershed-based approach to regulatory compliance.
- Education and engagement goals to:
• Create opportunities for people to connect with and understand their relationship to the natural world
• Influence community behavior change to protect watershed health
• Build community understanding of watershed health concepts and dynamic natural processes
• Promote water resources career-connected learning and development for focus communities, students, and teachers
• Strengthen partnerships between the district and cities, municipalities, community based organizations, and environmental groups
• Build public trust and credibility, connecting the district’s work to tangible outcomes for a healthy environment, quality of life, and a vibrant economy
- Desired engagement and stewardship services:
• Educating, organizing, and leading volunteers in native planting, invasive removal, or other stewardship events on district-managed sites.
• Recruiting, training, and leading community science volunteers in data collection, quality control, and analysis.
• Coordinating with educators to present classroom or field lessons focused on watershed health, water quality, plant/animal communities, or human impact on built and natural environments.
• Co-creating training and/or internship programs for under-represented young adults to engage in stem education and natural resource career exploration.
• Hosting a field experience for focus communities to visit the county river and experience water safety, kayaking, or canoeing.
• Coordinating and delivering bi-lingual family nature and watershed health walks at district-managed sites.
• Promoting and delivering presentations and training to focus communities and potential partners on watershed health, ecological enhancement, and pollution prevention.
• Leading and participating in outreach activities to communicate natural processes in the county river watershed (including but not limited to, erosion, flooding, coexistence with beaver, fire, tree care and culturally important species) and provide guidance and resources on best practices.
• Providing timely technical support, materials and answers related to stewardship of natural resources for residents.
- Contract Period/Term: 3 years
- Pre-Proposal Conference Date: April 10, 2025