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King County Washington home

Partners in Water Program

Learn how the Partners in Water (PiW) Program facilitates collaboration between the Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) and community-based organizations (CBOs) to advance equity and improve access, operations, and services.

King County Partners in Water staff and several representatives from community based organizations (Living Well Kent, Mother Africa, Villa Comunitaria) at the CitySoil Farm, located and King County's South Treatment Plant.

Partners in Water is a WTD program that brings together local CBOs and internal WTD project teams to center community priorities and perspectives in decision-making, strengthen partnerships, and improve environmental and social outcomes for all.

Partners in Water was codesigned by community representatives and WTD staff and allows us to move beyond traditional partnership models and improve the way WTD engages with the communities it serves. We do this through ongoing collaboration and co-creation that will lead to more equitable and inclusive water infrastructure services.

Who we partner with

Partners in Water works with CBOs rooted in the diverse communities across King County. Our partners are committed to environmental and social equity, and they help ensure that public programs and infrastructure serve communities in ways that are culturally responsive, accessible, and inclusive.

Rooted in King County’s Equity Race and Social Justice values, our PiW Grant Program provides fair compensation to CBOs who are selected to participate in each yearlong project.

Current Partners in Water projects

Career pathways in wastewater

A group of people in reflective orange vests and hard hats are touring a treatment plant

After a competitive grant application process, we are excited to launch year two in May 2026 with Villa Comunitaria, ECOSS, and Refugee Women’s Alliance! 

Together we will build on the progress made in the pilot year and will work together on developing and testing community-based advertising and communications about WTD job opportunities, continuing to refine and improve job posting templates and other recruitment processes, developing and testing new collaborative strategies for community engagement, and supporting WTDs workforce development strategic planning.
 
In 2025, we partnered with Kandelia and Villa Comunitaria to co-design a new Career Pathways Project. This initiative is focused on how WTD can update current recruiting processes to increase equitable access and can connect young people and others from underrepresented communities to careers in wastewater and environmental fields.

 

Project goals:

  • Build and strengthen partnerships between WTD Human Resources and CBOs.
  • Improve WTD Human Resources strategies and communications to reduce barriers to employment at WTD.
  • Expand equitable access to education and career opportunities for youth and community.

2025 highlights/impacts include:

  • Reshaping WTD job postings to be clearer, inclusive, and easier to navigate through workshops with community partners and a focus group with multilingual learners.
  • Increasing access to education and resources about careers in clean water for youth and adults from immigrant and refugee communities.  

Read our Pilot Project Impact Report Summary for more details on our progress in year one of this project.

Read our blogpost to learn more about how the Career Pathways Project was formed.

 

Community partnerships in infrastructure

King County project manager with seven people representing community-based organizations. The group has orange vests and hard hats as they pose for a photo at the Georgetown Wet Weather Treatment Station.

We are collaborating with Living Well Kent, Mother Africa, and Villa Comunitaria to rethink how WTD involves communities in planning for capital projects and co-create a toolkit that will help WTD more effectively engage and involve communities in future infrastructure planning and construction.

Together, we are

  • documenting best practices for building trust and sharing power with CBOs in community engagement efforts,
  • identifying strategies to involve communities early and more effectively in capital projects, and
  • developing tools and recommendations for future WTD work.

PiW Loop Compost Project

In May 2026 we will be launching this new project which is a collaboration between WTD and community-based organizations (CBOs) serving underrepresented communities in King County that aims to expand equitable access to Loop Compost. Staff from three CBOs and WTD will work together on developing and testing a plan for strategic and equitable distribution of Loop Compost, as well as communications, education and engagement activities to reach communities across King County. 

Stay connected

We believe long-term community partnerships are essential to making our work stronger, more just, and more effective. If you’re a CBO interested in working with us through a future PiW project or have questions, we’d love to connect!

Contact: Eli Weiss, Partners in Water Program Manager, at eli.weiss@kingcounty.gov.

King County project manager with five people representing community-based organizations.

Related Topics

Climate Action Plan

King County's strategy to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Participatory budgeting

Learn about King County’s approach to community-driven public funding in urban unincorporated areas.