Ipswich-Rowley Rotary Club Secures Grant With Help from Ipswich England
IPSWICH, MA – Jan 26, 2023 The Ipswich-Rowley Rotary along with the Ipswich-East, Ipswich England Rotary have secured a $38,624.00 grant from Rotary International to help educate our communities about the importance of water conservation. Working with the Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA), the Ipswich-Rowley Rotary will use these funds to produce a water conservation and advocacy toolkit to be shared with stakeholders across the North Shore.
This toolkit will then be exported for use in Ipswich, England.
About 350,000 people in 13 communities depend on the Ipswich River as their source of drinking water. In 2021 the Ipswich River was designated as one of the most endangered rivers in the country. Never before has our water supply been under this amount of stress. The Ipswich-Rowley Rotary identified water conservation education as a measurable action with lasting effects. Ipswich-East Rotary, located in Ipswich, England, signed on as an international sponsor and will use the toolkit developed here to address similar water conservation needs in their community.
In 2022 the town of Ipswich in Suffolk County, England experienced their worst drought in decades which led to fires that destroyed habitat and crops. “Suffolk’s 3 main rivers are key areas for wildlife and tourism. I hope we can engage with other interested local organizations to see how this toolkit can help to monitor water usage and conservation of supplies,” said Dr. David Chittick, of Ipswich-East Rotary.
This grant-funded project will provide training, networking, and resources to stakeholders, e.g Water Boards, Water Commissioners, and the like in the Ipswich River Watershed and to communities throughout the region. The goal of the project is to engage the North Shore’s leading influencers and advocates to educate, mobilize, and activate the community leaders and the general public to effectuate societal level change necessary to significantly reduce water use throughout the region.
“When I saw the Ipswich River listed as one of the most endangered rivers in the country, I knew the power of Rotary can help change this.” – Joan Arsenault, Past District 7930 Governor, District 7930 Rotary Foundation Chair, andmember of Ipswich-Rowley Rotary.
“We’re ecstatic that the Ipswich-Rowley Rotary has thrown its support behind the Ipswich, one of the most endangered rivers in the country,” says Wayne Castonguay, Executive Director of IRWA. “This funding will help us expand our educational programming and accelerate the pace of work we are doing to promote water conservation efforts within North Shore towns.”
