WaterNow Project Accelerator

The Project Accelerator is designed to increase community capacity to get innovative and community-oriented water management projects off the ground. Twice a year, WaterNow holds a competitive application cycle for projects to receive various kinds of technical and program assistance. Selected projects receive up to 250 hours of pro-bono support over 6-9 months. The assistance provided ranges from program design and management to policy and legal analysis, stakeholder outreach, communications, data analysis, sustainability expertise and more!

While the Accelerator is open to all sustainable water initiatives, WaterNow has developed particular expertise around designing, financing, and implementing onsite and decentralized water solutions of various kinds. As communities across the country are leveraging a wider range of solutions to adapt to a changing climate, increase water supply security, and protect water quality and the health of our aquatic resources, these strategies can include green stormwater infrastructure, water reuse and recapture, source water protection, water use efficiency, private lead service line replacements and other approaches that serve the same functions as conventional water infrastructure.

Critically, these approaches can often generate additional benefits, such as job creation, neighborhood greening, cost reduction, local economic development, and enhancements to public health.

Accelerator projects vary widely, depending on each community’s priorities, but they share common goals of implementing innovative, sustainable solutions, particularly those that support under-resourced communities and build climate resilience. We are here to help you move past roadblocks on the path to implementation.

Our summer 2022 application cycle is now open, and will close on July 29, 2022. During this application cycle, we will be focusing, in particular, on projects that advance water equity and support under-resourced communities.

Project Accelerator provides short term support and technical assistance to get local priority projects off the ground. Specific projects can vary widely, depending on each communities’ goals, and have included efforts focused on conservation, efficiency, water reuse, green stormwater infrastructure, affordability and equity. In Cleveland, Ohio, for example, Project Accelerator supported the implementation of the Water Champions program, an initiative utilizing grassroots outreach to connect communities with affordability programs. A project in New Orleans developed a road map towards implementing the City’s goal of using its streets as green stormwater infrastructure and implementing a “green streets” ordinance. And in Cheyenne, WY and Evans, CO, the program supported the development of water efficient fixture direct installation programs for income-eligible residents. If you’re not sure if the project you have in mind is a fit, you can also reach out to us directly to discuss it in more detail.