June 2019 Update

Greetings Clean Rivers Coalition members,

The Clean Rivers Coalition Steering Committee is excited to move into Phase II of our project to develop and launch a statewide clean water communications campaign! In the coming months, we will host a community forum to share survey results with the broader coalition and gather your feedback. Details on a date and location will be coming soon. We hope to see you there!

Coalition Update
Working in partnership with Brink Communications, the steering committee has just wrapped up Phase I of our four-phase project. After conducting research and interviews with scientists and outreach experts to determine the most impactful pollutants on our waterways and the most promising areas for behavior change, we have narrowed our initial message development strategy to target:

• Reduced use of fertilizers and pesticides, and herbicides and insecticides

• Connecting people to the importance of water and protecting our water

• Waterwise gardening (planting native species, trees to shade waterways, etc.)

• Clean water messaging covering stormwater issues, with the potential for future messaging on wastewater, hazardous waste, and drinking water protection

With these overarching goals in mind, we’re excited to move into Phase II of our work. In this phase, the steering committee will work with Brink to develop a public survey capturing Oregonians’ attitudes, values, and understanding regarding the health of their local waterways. The survey will gauge their receptivity toward adopting a variety of behaviors that could positively impact water quality. We will survey 400 to 600 people statistically and demographically representative of Oregon’s population.

How you can help:

1. Come to the next community forum late this summer (date TBD) and provide your input as well as hear directly from Brink Communications.

2. Provide input on how you might share the Coalition’s water quality messaging with your local community.

3. Remember CRC in your FY2020 Budget. A $500 to $5,000 line item from your organization will help us create high-quality clean water messaging that is relevant to your community. Contact us to learn more!

Details about the work ahead:

• Brink uses survey data and feedback from the community forum to develop test messaging targeting key pollutants and actions that are ripe for public behavior change.

• Next, Brink hosts two focus groups – one in the mid-Willamette Valley and one in the Portland metro area – to test this messaging on live audiences.

• In Phase III, feedback from focus groups is used to refine our campaign concept and create a three-year strategic communications plan guiding the Coalition’s future efforts to promote clean water.

• Finally, in Phase IV, Brink assists the Coalition in implementing the first phase of a communications campaign to spread our key messages.

Ultimately, we aim to work together as a Coalition to spread a unified message to help Oregonians understand how individual actions can impact water quality and encourage them to take actions that promote clean water.

Thank you!

Clean Rivers Coalition Mission: Building the bridge between clean water and healthy communities through education and engagement.