Smart Planning for Economy, Environment, and Health

We collaborate with communities to strategically invest in cost-effective water infrastructure that meets their economic, environmental, and public health challenges today to make communities climate resilient for tomorrow. Water infrastructure is really costly and communities facing critical updates are seeking no-regrets strategies that are affordable and make their communities cleaner, safer, and healthier. Rural towns, tribes, and low-income communities of color struggle to self-finance major upgrades to their pipes and facilities that are older than Nike. Communities recognize their infrastructure investments have consequences for their economy, public health, and their environment. InfrastructureNext supports local leaders in selecting and implementing infrastructure with the most positive benefits to their community.

InfrastructureNext is a capacity building process as much as it is a solutions seeking process.

1. We gather stakeholders with diverse expertise, local knowledge, and perspectives to identify the root causes of their water challenges.
2. We weave together traditional and natural infrastructure projects, public programs, and innovative technologies to address those challenges.
3. We prioritize solutions that provide the most benefits to residents in clean air, safe water, healthy communities, and great new careers.
4. We identify the policy, funding, and institutional barriers that stand in the way of making that solution a reality.
5. Lastly, we respond to and address each barrier until the community can confidently implement and maintain their solutions.

What sets InfrastructureNext apart from other approaches is that we specialize in local capacity building to foster community resilience so they are equipped to confront future environmental and infrastructure challenges. We gather external funding to support lasting partnerships between us and communities facing budget and capacity constraints. We leverage that funding and our technical assistance to act as a bridge, building local capacity in communities until they no longer need our sustained support.

Publications & News

Banner photo / Marlin Greene, One Earth Images; photo by “Workforce for Water” project / Clean Water Services