As an advocate for protecting and restoring the surface waters and groundwater in Teton County, Wyoming, POWJH drives meaningful and lasting change through science-based, forward thinking, collaborative solutions. Our work is dedicated to improving our community’s water quality, now and for future generations, through a multifaceted approach focused on community solutions, advocacy, and education.
This free event brought the community together to raise awareness, discuss solutions, and inspire action for the water quality issues facing Teton County. It featured more than a dozen fun, interactive, science-based exhibits and activities for the whole family focused on different factors affecting water quality issues in our community.
POWJH received two consecutive U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Education grants to provide free drinking water well testing resources to our community. Any Teton County, WY private well user can participate.
Teton Conservation District and Friends of Fish Creek partnered to provide Teton County, Wyoming, residents the opportunity to receive a rebate for pumping septic systems which had not been maintained in the last 5 years.
POWJH launched the Hoback Clean Water Initiative in 2022 to provide Hoback residents with free, clean drinking water as a short-term solution to their water quality problems until a long-term solution unfolds through the Hoback Junction Water & Sewer District. This initiative also helped fund critical studies to get a community drinking water system in place in Hoback Junction.
The Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance and Protect Our Water Jackson Hole hosted the only candidate forum focused on conservation on October 25, 2022.
Leading up to the local 2022 election, Protect Our Water Jackson Hole talked with local candidates about how they planned to prioritize water quality, alongside other community needs, once they are in office, raising awareness for the issue both among candidates and with the public.
In 2020, POWJH spearheaded the effort to improve water quality protections in the 2012 Teton County Comprehensive Plan updates.
In May 2021, Teton County released proposed updates to the Small Wastewater Facility (septic system) Regulations for Public Comment. POWJH took a leadership role to ensure the proposed rules protected drinking water and the environment.
There have been questions about the quality of the treated effluent being discharged into the Snake River from Teton County's largest wastewater treatment facility. POWJH has partnered with the Town of Jackson to initiate an independent, third-party review of operations at the facility. A request for proposals to hire a consultant was released on July 7, 2021, and POWJH is working with the Town to review submissions to hire the consultant in August 2021.