The Value of Water Coalition

In the United States, a longstanding lack of public awareness about the true cost of delivering and maintaining safe drinking water and wastewater services has caused dramatic underinvestment in water systems across the nation. To collaboratively develop a cohesive messaging strategy around the value of investing in water infrastructure, senior water sector representatives enlisted Meridian to convene a historic alliance of water sector leaders. The outcome: a powerful communications campaign which, more than a decade later, continues to champion the value of clean, safe, and reliable water to a thriving economy and high quality of life.

Building off a six-year collaboration among hundreds of water, agriculture, and energy sector leaders known as Charting New Waters (CNW), leaders from American Water, Veolia, Water Environment Federation, and others engaged Meridian to convene the Value of Water Coalition. The group consisted of twelve leading water infrastructure enterprises, public water associations, and nonprofits—a significant coalition of water businesses and nonprofits as a united voice. Meridian coordinated and facilitated the Coalition’s Steering Committee as well as other meetings and conference calls, helping the group reach consensus on key objectives and develop an implementation strategy which balanced individual company actions with broad industry benefits.

After playing an integral role in the Coalition’s foundational stages, Meridian laid groundwork for the Value of Water Campaign, circulating a request for proposals and facilitating sessions in which Coalition members collaboratively selected a communications consultant. The resulting campaign, maintained today by the U.S. Water Alliance, continues educating the public and organizing collective action toward sustainable water policy at both local and national levels.