Seattle’s Duwamish Valley neighborhoods of South Park and Georgetown are home to racially diverse and low-income communities that experience an unfair share of climate change impacts in the region. As we experienced last December,  flooding has become more frequent and severe and the area is expected to be among the city’s hardest hit by sea level rise.

In fall of 2022, our Duwamish Valley Youth Corps, the University of Washington, the Public Health Reserve Corps, and the City of Seattle went door to door, surveying 167 households - community members in South Park and Georgetown to assess and build climate resilience strategies tailored to their local conditions and needs. Data collected and lessons learned from the project are intended to drive future equity-centered approaches to disaster needs assessment; resilience planning; and climate mitigation and adaptation strategies

Most people surveyed (62%) were interested in using a Resilience Hub (community facility that provides aid during emergencies) and nearly half (47%) were interested in helping design the city’s plan for climate resilience. 

DRCC has also been hosting listening sessions with the community to corroborate this information and to help us emphasize the need to prepare and center the voices of the most impacted community with government  and other cities working to build resilience to climate change

Across all respondents, the top 3 issues of concern were environmental impacts, crime, and cost of living.

Table of Content:

1. DRCC Program Updates

2. Community Updates

3. Upcoming Events

Superfund

Thank you to our wonderful community for making our One River Community Update event a huge success! We had more than 110 people attending a great community event.  Our talented youth from the Duwamish Valley Youth Corps designed and built a 3D model of the Duwamish River, which we used to provide updates on the Harbor Island Community Involvement Plan, the open comment period for Duwamish Waterway Park, and provide updated information about the flooding earlier this year.  We also loved hearing your thoughts and seeing your drawings at our Public Comment station!

Thank you to the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Ecology- together with other partners like Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association and Just Health Action who provided more information about important river related information,  comment periods and answered questions from community members.

If you are interested in providing comment or learning more about what the agencies are seeking comment on, more information can be found at https://www.drcc.org/publiccomment or by contacting Jamie Hearn at jamie@drcc.org.

It is always such a pleasure to spend time with our community as we amplify our shared vision for a clean and healthy environment, and continue to advocate for a one river approach to remediation.

Please REMEMBER: 

Current Open Public Comment Periods

Duwamish Waterway Park -DEADLINE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT March 15, 2023

The Department of Ecology is seeking comments on an Agreed Order and Public Participation Plan.

PROVIDE COMMENT HERE

Duwamish Valley Youth Corps

As the DVYC Winter season nears its end (April 1st), we see our youth empowering community in a number of ways. One exciting cohort that was recently formed in partnership with Front and Centered is the IVAN cohort. And if you were able to attend our One River event on March 4th, you likely had the opportunity to engage with this fantastic group of 8 youth. Led by our incredible staff Jamie Hearn and Mamudou Kuyateh, they have learned and are educating the community how to use the IVAN (Identifying Violations Affecting Neighborhoods) Tool. This app gives anyone with a smartphone the opportunity to report climate hazards to a community database. We are so proud of our DVYC youth for continuing to learn, adapt and uplift community. Go IVAN team!

How does the IVAN tool work?

IVAN Online is a community-based environmental monitoring system, which means that, unlike other government complaint systems, all environmental reports submitted on IVAN Online are publicly archived. This provides a certain level of transparency to the environmental reporting process conducted by environmental agencies, such as the Department of Toxic Substances (DTSC). IVAN Online is also a great resource to residents interested in receiving daily alerts to environmental concerns in their community.

Report environmental problems or concerns in less than five minutes! IVAN is a community-based environmental enforcement reporting site that connects people acrossWashington State with the proper agencies that can help solve local environmental problems. 

Whether you're at home, work, or play, IVAN is available to you and your community to report, document, and resolve environmental concerns.

Clean Air Program

Take a look at our STATE OF THE AIR report with information and updates on how we are working towards reducing air pollution to in on our community !

Climate Justice

Duwamish Valley Climate Resilience Cohort Share out session #4

At our recent climate cohort training, members of the cohort presented their research on a variety of topics around climate change. It was an inspiring and informative session, and many of the participants left with a deeper understanding of the issues at hand and a greater appreciation for the work that lies ahead.

The presentations covered a range of topics including Ocean acidification, marine life, sea level rise, Flooding impacts from Dec 27, Birds & climate change, displacement + indigenous people, culture and nature and the loss of animals and species and Storytelling resources. There was a lively discussion about the need for collective action to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. Members of the cohort shared their unique perspectives and insights on the issue, which was an invaluable contribution to the conversation.

The session was an opportunity for members of the cohort to not only learn more about climate change and the challenges it presents, but also to connect with one another's ideas and experiences and build relationships. It was a great reminder that we can all make a difference in our own way and that each of us has a role to play in addressing the climate crisis.

All in all, it was a successful session, and we are grateful to all the participants for their contributions and enthusiasm. We are looking forward to our next meeting and the continued work of this inspiring cohort who will be graduating soon after  6  amazing sessions! 

3. Upcoming Events

KHMER NEW YEAR CELEBRATION SATURDAY 3/25/2023 - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED WITH OUR COMMUNITY PARTNER

March 25- Community Cleanup

April 22 Air Fair

Join us on a Air Fair as we talk about air quality and action items to improve our environment. Free food, child care, and interpretation will be available.

August 5th 2023

Join us in our annual Duwamish River Festival. Please save the date as more information regarding volunteers, sponsorships, tabling and more are to come.