Item 3 - Rain to River Presentation — original pdf

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N I T S U A F O Y T I C A Strategic Plan to Protect Austin’s Creeks and Communities Sari Albornoz –Planner Senior/Community Engagement Planner W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T What is Rain to River? A Strategic Plan to Protect Austin's Creeks and Communities N I T S U A F O Y T I C Guiding Blueprint for department Evaluation framework Communication Tool W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T N I T S U A F O Y T I C What are our goals for the update?  Reflect the vision and values of our community  Incorporate equity, climate resilience, and population growth  Be informative and accessible W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T N I T S U A F O Y T I C Focused Efforts to Reach:  Historically under-served groups  Impacted groups  Organizations with relevant expertise We are striving for a representative sample of the Austin community! W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T N I T S U A F O Y T I C Broad Community Engagement • Launched RaintoRiverATX.com • Created a Community Vision Survey for people to share their experiences with natural spaces, waterways, and drainage infrastructure • Advertised the survey using yard signs at community gathering spaces and via social media and radio • Attended 60 + community events • Worked with consultant to conduct a statistically valid survey to validate Community Vision Survey results W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T N I T S U A F O Y T I C Focused Engagement • Worked with MEASURE, a local black-owned nonprofit, to conduct five compensated focus groups designed by and centered on historically-excluded communities • Conducted 11 more focus groups with organizations like Austin Youth River Watch and Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired • Hired a cohort of community ambassadors – a group of paid community members who gathered stories and perspectives from racially and economically diverse communities W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T N I T S U A F O Y T I C Focused Engagement • Awarded six $5K mini-grants to partner organizations who gathered additional input from historically-excluded communities • Reached out to over 120 different priority stakeholder organizations and met 1:1 with more than a dozen organization leaders to build relationships • Surveyed community organizations to gather their expertise-informed perspectives • Promoted Community Vision Survey by mailing postcards to addresses in flood risk areas and attending community events serving priority stakeholders W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T What We've Heard, So Far N I T S U A F O Y T I C • Community Vision Survey responses: >2,100 responses and >1,000 • Statistically valid survey: demographically representative sample o mapped points f >1,100 responses • Community Ambassador report: Amplifying Community Voices • Partner organization report: Listening in Collaboration • MEASURE report: Impacts of Flooding, Pollution, & Erosion on Austin Communities and historical timeline: Community Inequities in Austin's Watersheds • Imagine Austin Speaker Series panel discussion featuring Community Ambassadors and a partner organization Learn more at www.RainToRiverATX.com under the "What We've Heard" tab. W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T Actions We've Taken • Made community feedback-informed recommendations to WPD Executive Team for FY25 department budget • Added disaster-related mental health resources to Austin's flood safety website, www.ATXFloodSafety.com • Added signage to waterways to support N I T S U A F O Y T I C flood safety awareness for unhoused Austinites • Initiated conversations with Austin Public Library exploring vital document storage at branch libraries for unhoused Austinites W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T What's next? • Launch Community Activation Group (CAG), Fall 2024, in collaboration with Jodon Maclem and MEASURE Austin. Over the next year, the CAG will: • Synthesize community feedback to help generate a Community Vision Statement • Help identify potential strategies to include and trade-offs to consider for the Rain to River plan • Help design an interactive survey tool to seek community input about these strategies • Help gather community feedback using this interactive tool • Ensure that community perspectives and priorities are integrated into the final Rain to River N I T S U A F O Y T I C and trade-offs plan W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T N I T S U A F O Y T I C Our Asks • Join our Community Activation Group! We are looking for 1-2 leaders of organizations that represent/serve Asian communities in Austin • Help us get connected with your networks, so we're prepared to reach out when the next phase of Rain to River engagement begins: • Events we should attend? • Community newsletters for announcements? • Share your advice with us about effectively engaging the communities with whom you work W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T Thank you! N I T S U A F O Y T I C WEBSITE www.RaintoRiverATX.com CONTACT Sari Albornoz sari.albornoz@austintexas.gov W A T E R S H E D P R O T E C T I O N D E P A R T M E N T