PROJECT H2O Conversations on Conservation
From Washington DC, USA to Paris, France let’s talk water!
As part of our 2024 Earth Day celebration and to further support the mission of Project H2O, we are getting together with the community and subject matter experts, sharing their local, national, and global perspectives on water sustainability, arts and creativity.
Among our guest panelists are Scott Berry, Director of Policy and Government Affairs from the US Water Alliance; Steve Saari, Interim Deputy Director, Natural Resources Administration and Associate Director, Watershed Protection Division, Department of Energy and Environment; and Fanny Breteau, Environmental Artist and former Graphic Designer at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Let’s together spark meaningful conversations and inspire creative actions toward a more sustainable, water-secure future.
Our Guest Panelists
Steve Saari, Associate Director of Watershed Protection for the District Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) and the Interim Deputy Director for the Natural Resource Administration
Steve oversees an annual budget of over 20 million dollars, including funds from Environmental Protection Agency Grants and high-profile funding sources, including Stormwater Utility Fees and “Bag Bill” monies. Steve has an M.S. in ecology and has been in the watershed restoration field for twenty-five years.
Steve has undertaken a wide range of projects, including:
- Creating the successful RiverSmart Homes program that provides incentives to homeowners to install landscaping techniques that infiltrate rainwater on their properties
- Undertaking the District’s first stream “daylighting” project, which restored to the surface a piped stream in the Rock Creek watershed
- Installing the city’s first Regenerative Stream Channel projects – a specialized type of stream restoration technique that uses step-pools that mimic beaver ponds to slow stormwater velocities, infiltrate stormwater, recharge groundwater, and treat pollutants through chemical and biological processes, and
- Developing the District’s first government-wide green stormwater infrastructure maintenance program
Scott Berry, Director of Policy and Government Affairs at the US Water Alliance
US Water Alliance is a national nonprofit organization advancing policies and programs that build a sustainable water future for all.
Scott leads the Alliance’s engagement and strategy on federal and state policy issues, builds relationships with policymakers, and manages the Alliance’s policy team. He also serves as the content and management lead for the Alliance’s One Water Summit and oversees the One Water Delegations.
Previously, he was Director of the Utility Infrastructure Division, Environment, and Trade at the Associated General Contractors of America. There, he spent nine years as their head lobbyist on water infrastructure and water policy issues, and was the member services lead for water, sewer, power, telecommunications, and underground construction.
He has served in the leadership of United for Infrastructure, the Water Infrastructure Network, the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Coalition, the Common Ground Alliance, and the Waters Advocacy Coalition. He has a BA in political science and geography from the University of Mary Washington.
Fanny Breteau, Graphic designer & artist based in Paris, France
Fanny has been working with organizations convening around solutions to the environmental crises for the past couple of decades, including the Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation, a think tank whose mission is to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
Drawing inspiration from her art research and practice, her visual design work successfully communicates complex ideas or new mindsets to wide audiences.
As an artist, she explores the evolving relationship we have with the environment. Challenging her creative process by substituting toxic materials with ones that can be transformed or returned safely to the environment, such as water, charcoal, salt, light, paper, pigments.
RSVP to the April 20, 2024 “Project H2O Conversations on Conservation” Event
Calling all artists: Learn more about Project H20 and showcase your support for a water-secure future with your message driven and action inspiring artwork(s). Join Project H2O today!
