Hundreds Gather to Celebrate Shared Vision for Water

On Thursday, June 1, 2017 we held our fourth annual Pro H20 event; and it was a rousing success with over 200 attendees, sharing support for clean water. It was a social event, but within the context of the serious policy battles that the Council advocates within—at local, state and federal levels. Many business cards were shared, stories swapped, and most importantly, attendees collaborated to build invigoration.

Each year, Pro H2O is an important opportunity to honor those who have made a significant impact in the fight for clean water in Iowa. We honored recent Pulitzer Prize Winner, Art Cullen, Frankin Codel – on behalf of the Wells Fargo Green Team, Liz Garst, IEC board member and founder of Whiterock Conservancy, and RDG Planning and Design. It is also a time to thank our volunteer board, to the volunteer committee who planned the event, to our many donors and sponsors and (for me) to say thanks to our staff. This year we launched our first ever, “Add Your Voice for Clean Water” campaign and asked all attendees to not only add their names, but to also share the campaign with their social media following. We then displayed the Facebook and Twitter posts for all to see throughout the event. It was a thrill to the new campaign widely shared.

Pro H2O is a unique and necessary event to re-energize groups and individuals each year under a shared goal for Iowa’s future.  We all know, that like other environmental challenges, we need to elevate our efforts at protection of our natural resources.   We can recognize Iowans and groups who contribute in unique ways to giving voice to the need to accelerate efforts to achieve clean water, whether it is a group of volunteers from a national finance company, a Pulitzer prize winning writer from  NW Iowa, an engineering firm from DSM, or a long-time farmer/advocate from northcentral Iowa.  The geographical spread of honorees also represents our need to expand our efforts across the state. Pro H2O provides that critical support to increase both advocacy and outreach for the Council. The positive tone of the evening always promotes enthusiasm; and attendees depart for the night optimistic.

Thanks to all of our sponsors and attendees. Enjoy the photos from this year's Pro H2O. We hope you will join us next year!

2017 Pro H2O Sponsors

Linda Appelgate, BNIM, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Iowa Rivers Revival, The Leopold Center, Catherine Cowie and Damien Lock, Frank Fogerty, Neil and Khanh Hamilton, Cyril and John Mandelbaum, Loraine May, Pamela and Doug Mollenhauer, NCP, Inc., Prairie Meadows, Margi Weiss and Mike Tramontia, Wells Fargo Green Team, John D. Schmidt and Deb Wiley, Connie Wimer and Virtual IT.
Libations generously sponsored by Robert and Kay Riley.
Food for the event generously sponsored by Christiani's Catering.