Water Collaboratory

Like most inequities, the lack of access to clean and affordable drinking water in Eastern Kentucky intensifies the harmful effects of the pandemic. Therefore, our work supporting community-led efforts to secure clean and affordable water has never been more urgent. LiKEN is convening a network of community organizations and stakeholders in eastern Kentucky to strategize and coordinate efforts related to improving water quality in the region. Stay tuned for the official launch of the network later this summer! 

LiKEN is also supporting organizing efforts led by the grassroots group, Martin County Concerned Citizens in Martin County, KY. We are working together with MCCC, Appalachian Citizens Law Center, and the University of Kentucky to hold a community report-back on the results of a water testing and health study undertaken in 2019 in the county. The community report-back was held virtually Thursday July 30, 2020.  With our partners, LiKEN staff engages in the regulatory processes governing drinking water in Kentucky. This spring, we piloted a participatory workshop on water governance and plan to make that curriculum, along with other materials on using popular education to mobilize communities around drinking water issues, available online this Fall.