Pittsburgh prepares to celebrate water

By Tom McMeekin
Point Park News Service

Pittsburgh, a city famous for its three rivers and that already is preparing for possible record flooding, will host a series of events focusing on the importance of water for World Environment Day 2010.

Local leaders also hope the events will have long-term outcomes for the region, with Carnegie Mellon University helping create a regional water innovation consortium and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announcing plans for a water quality action plan to be put in place.

“Nowdays, you can’t talk about energy without talking about the environment, and you can’t talk about energy and the environment without talking about water,” said Bill Flanagan, executive vice president of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.

Joylette Portlock, of Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, echoed this by saying that water costs more than any other municipal service, and saving water can often mean saving energy. The group will hold “Black and Gold City Goes Green,” a competition to see which communities and organizations can save the most water.

Ravenstahl, County Executive Dan Onoroto, Bayer Corportation President and CEO Greg Babe, and Sustainable Pittsburgh Executive Director Court Gould are co-chairs of the Pittsburgh World Environment Day Partnership. The Partnership also includes more than 200 organizations.

Many of the events were announced at a press conference and planning meeting Thursday, March 11, where representatives for several of the member organizations spoke.

The events are designed to bridge the gap between Earth Day, April 22, and World Environment Day, June 5.

World Environment Day has been held each year since 1972. Rwanda has been named the global host country for the event this year, but events are held in each of the United Nations Environmental Programme’s six regions, and Pittsburgh is the host for North America. Earth Day was created in 1970.

They also will tie in with the Three Rivers Arts Festival, which launches June 4. The festival — one of the only free events like it in the county — is already recognized for its green practices. Through composting and recycling, they are able to divert 83 percent of their waste that would otherwise go to landfills, said Marguerite Jarrett Marks, festival coordinator.

This year the festival will also focus on environmentalism in both its stage shows and other exhibits.

“Think giant sunflowers that run on solar energy,” Marks said. She also discussed an exhibit where children would fish for artistic representations of different living and extinct fish species that would show the evolution of the water system over time.

Other organizations involved in the World Environment Day celebration include the Allegheny County Library Association, which has chosen “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson as this year’s “One Book, One Community” selection, and Venture Outdoors, which hopes to set a record for the largest flotilla of kayaks and canoes.

“Fish are thriving and mayflies have returned to our rivers,” said Venture Outdoors’ Assistant Executive Director Sean Brady. He said the event was to help raise awareness about the scarcity and quality of water.

“I’ve been personally very impressed, but not surprised, with how this region has stepped up to support this opportunity,” said Rebecca Lucore, of the Bayer Corporation. “It is really our hope that everyone will be able to find something they can personally connect with.”

More information on events will be posted on the partnership’s Web site, www.pittsburghwed.com.