Urge the Mayor to make the City a signatory to the Swimmable Cities Charter

WHEREAS, Swimmable Cities is an international alliance spread across more than 72 cities and 27 countries, alongside a diverse range of organizations that believe safe and swimmable waterways are a sacred treasure and fundamental right that provides vitality to every city and should be accessible to all people and healthy for fish, people, and wildlife; and WHEREAS, pioneering municipalities around the world have signed the Swimmable Cities Charter, including Annapolis, Maryland; Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Yarra, Melbourne, Australia; Alsergrund District, Vienna, Austria; Budapest, Hungary; Vilnius, Lithuania; and an array of nongovernment organizations; and WHEREAS, Portland owes much to the tireless advocacy, discussions, gatherings, community connection, and love for our river provided by the Human Access Project, Black Swimming Initiative, Willamette Riverkeeper, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, Portland Metro Chamber, and Lloyd EcoDistrict; and WHEREAS, the City of Portland strives to integrate environmental protection and universal access into its stewardship of natural resources; and WHEREAS, Portland’s resolve in reclaiming its signature waterway spawned the Big Pipe, the largest public works project in the City’s history at a cost of $1.44 billion, which took 20 years to complete in 2011; and WHEREAS, the Big Pipe and other conservation projects enhance our extensive green infrastructure and provide a roadmap for the rest of the world on how to reclaim their cities’ urban liquid public spaces; and WHEREAS, the City of Portland and Indigenous tribes rely on the rivers, waterfronts, and adjacent lands to express their cultural identity, where the direct experience with the water is centermost; and WHEREAS, swimmable urban waterways are vital to the livability of cities and communities, as shared civic places that promote the health of people (physically, mentally, spiritually) and the health of Mother Earth; and WHEREAS, urban swimming culture is a unique expression of life in cities and communities, reflecting the distinct interplay of sports, recreation, and tourism in each given place, as well as natural and cultural heritage; and WHEREAS, urban swimming should celebrate natural waterways as living, integrated entities that nurture communities and that promote universal accessibility and peaceful coexistence, inclusive of religious, cultural, and gender diversity; and WHEREAS, urban waterway swimming should become part of a new status quo in public access standards, challenging accepted conventions such as industrial uses and stormwater pollution, with governing authorities swiftly amending legal and regulatory frameworks to enable citizens access to its benefits; and WHEREAS, urban swimming places and experiences should be planned, designed, made, and operated through inclusive, integrated water management approaches, with managers ensuring universal access via community-led programs for learning how to swim in natural waterways and ecological literacy; and WHEREAS, urban swimming places and experiences should be invested in as an innovative way to enable resilient communities to adapt and thrive in a changing global climate, environment, and economy; and WHEREAS, urban swimming development models should balance social, cultural, ecological, and economic values, creating new jobs, careers, and livelihoods in regenerative professions and industries; and WHEREAS, urban swimming should create wellbeing benefits to local citizens, ecosystems, and economies, enhanced by the respectful sharing of Indigenous, traditional, and Western water culture knowledge; and WHEREAS, urban swimmers are stewards responsible for protecting the health of their local waterways, working alongside Mother Earth’s closest carers, such as Indigenous peoples, rangers, and waterkeepers as well as urbanists, architects, social changemakers, educators, and policymakers; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the City Council proudly declares its support for joining the international Urban Swimming movement and urges the Mayor to make the City of Portland a signatory to the Swimmable Cities Charter.