In this issue:
Give the Gift of Water this Holiday Season
Portfolio News
Industry News
Indigenous Acknowledgement
Give the Gift of Water this Holiday Season
The holidays are here, which means it's time to plan for end-of-year charitable giving. If protecting and honoring water is top of mind, please consider supporting these worthy organizations.
Donate to the Pacific Institute, which conducts influential, data-driven analysis of water resilience, water risk and water policies that are relied upon by global leaders and corporate CEOs. I use their reports to help stay informed about global water and climate trends. Watch their video overview (6 mins) and message on water resilience from President Jason Morrison (1 min).
Watch the video overview from The Pacific Institute.
Donate to International Rivers, the foremost organization fighting dam construction by partnering with local, indigenous and traditional communities. Dams block the flowing arteries of the water cycle, damaging traditional cultures and aquatic ecosystems with concrete. Large hydropower dams have been made obsolete by cheap solar and wind power, and reservoirs are a significant contributor to global GHG emissions. Let's commit to no new dams, conversion to fish-friendly turbines, and dam removal. Watch their video Rivers4Recovery (2 min).
Watch the International Rivers video Rivers4Recovery.
ELC Water Director Dr. Kelsey Leonard TED Talk, "Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans."
Watch "The Two Americans: The Navajo Nation Water Project" news story.
Donate to the Navajo Water Project run by DigDeep. 2.2 million Americans and 30% of families of the Navajo Nation live without running water. 100% of your donation goes to giving families off-grid clean, running water systems and solar power. Watch "The Two Americas: The Navajo Nation water project" news story. (2 min)
ERC Portfolio News
Hohonu announced today its acceptance into Elemental Excelerator Cohort 11. Hohonu provides real-time environmental monitoring to inform community-level action, especially relevant for rising sea levels that will put $100B worth of U.S. property in jeopardy by 2050.
Waterplan is featured in the New York Times. "Water is at the center of the climate crisis. Climate change is the problem and water is the messenger," says co-founder Jose Galindo. "Waterplan's software platform integrates public watershed data and customer water use data to help companies in water-intensive industries make sure that their current or future operations are not affected by drought." Waterplan is partnering with 30 customers including Coca-Cola, Amazon and AB InBev, and is operating in 100 watersheds.
Industry News
The Mississippi River is drying up, stranding barges. Read more at Forbes and Washington Post.
The Mississippi River is drying up, stranding barges. Read more at Forbes and Washington Post.
A new major study confirms a 70-year trend toward rivers drying up in what is termed a streamflow drought. “I think we’re here on a day of reckoning on drought policy. Ultimately, none of our regulations are set up for changing streamflows."
Russia targeted Kyiv water treatment systems and power-generating facilities, knocking out power and water to 80% of the City. This is just the latest incident in human history of using water as a weapon, trigger or casualty of war, according to the Pacific Institute's Water Conflict Chronology.
Indigenous Acknowledgement
We visited the Yampa River Valley in October, now known as Steamboat Springs. The Northern Ute tribe historically occupied parts of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico and Kansas. About 100 tribal members lived in the Yampa area, moved with the seasons following game, and enjoyed the hot springs and sulfur springs of the area. Eventually, more settlers arrived. “You had a hunter gatherer society needing to come and go and follow game, and then you had the settlers coming in putting up fences. Those ideologies just totally conflicted.” After the Battle of Milk Creek, the White River and Uncompahgre Utes were forced to relocate to the Uintah-Ouray reservation in northeast Utah.
The fall colors were out along the Yampa River and on the trail aptly named "Flash of Gold."
Here’s your gift to enjoy: A peaceful moment of flowing water on the Yampa River.
Investor Presentation: If you are an Accredited Investor looking to advance water sustainability and climate adaptation, consider investing in Fund I, which remains open to new investors. Five portfolio companies already have markups. Please see the Echo River investor presentation here. Contact Peter to learn more.
Please send any questions or comments to peter@echorivercap.com and (415) 203-0432. Here's to a future of water abundance.
– Peter
About Echo River Capital Echo River Capital is a seed fund advancing water technology for global impact based in San Francisco. Echo River invests in emerging technologies to digitize, decarbonize and decentralize the water cycle to improve human health, the environment and climate resilience. Peter Yolles, General Partner, is the former co-founder and CEO of WaterSmart.com, which was acquired in 2020. Peter adds strategic value with 30 years of operating experience in the water industry along with a Yale MBA in finance and a Master's in water science, policy and management.
Peter Yolles
General Partner
+1.415.203.0432