A Letter From Jim Nash, Oakland County Water Resources Commisioner

 

I am so proud Pure Oakland Water celebrates ten years of service. It’s been so impactful to educate our communities about our water resources, the threats of pollution and climate change, and more importantly, what individuals, businesses, and government can do to help. I’m thankful to our many sponsors who made our efforts possible.

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The organization began during the first year of my administration as the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner. We saw many needs in the community and began supporting a variety of efforts.

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Year after year we supported fourth and fifth grade students to attend watershed festivals at the Clinton and Rouge Rivers. They spent the day learning from many of our partners about human interactions with water and the environment.

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We provided annual scholarships to students at Rochester, Lawrence Technological, and Oakland Universities to support their interests in planning, civil and environmental engineering.

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We helped provide summer Internships for students to work with local watershed groups. Many have graduated and gone on to work in the industry.

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We recently started a new program for high school students called Blue Planet Jobs. The first event was in 2022 at Cranbrook. Students with math and science interests learned about the work done at the Oakland County Water Resources office.

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For the last ten years, we also sponsored the annual Stormwater Summit at Lawrence Technological University (except during the pandemic). It brought together hundreds of local governments, academia, industry experts, nonprofits, and residents.

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Our regular Art Fish Fun event at Beaudette Park brought families together for a park clean-up followed by arts and crafts, fishing on the mill pond, and BBQ.

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We also supported Earth Day events, rain barrel workshops, and the installation of green stormwater infrastructure projects in Oakland County. These efforts combined with the ones I mentioned above introduced more young people and residents to the water resources industry that protects public health and the environment, and promotes a sustainable future.

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Finally, many thanks go to our Board of Directors, who provide great guidance and support. Their thoughtful direction, commitment to ethical administration, and deep passion for our mission have made our many efforts highly impactful.

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Sincerely,