New task force to let ideas flow around marketing and preserving Memphis water

Memphis is sitting on top of and adjacent to its most vital resource – water.To focus on ways to leverage the water assets of Memphis, a new team called the Blue Stream Task Force was recently formed.

The Executive Committee of the Task Force met February 12 for the first time to gain consensus on the mission, formalize the structure, create an action plan, and to tour the “Water on Wheels” mobile learning lab. The entire task force consists of more than 45 community, civic, industry leaders and subject matter experts that will come together soon to begin collaborating on the development of a comprehensive long range water resource strategy for the metropolitan region to maximize the benefits of water resources. Mayor A. C. Wharton, Jr. is one of 14 executive committee members of the Blue Stream Task Force that also includes an impressive list of city influencers from the public and private sectors.

Mayor Wharton believes, “The Blue Stream Task Force will come up with a strategic plan to help ensure that we care for these assets and leverage them to make the Memphis metro-region a place of choice.”

The task force will be organized into three Advisory Committees: transportation, economic development and environmental to be chaired by Executive Committee members.  Each committee will be further broken down into related subject matter areas with the goal being to provide a 360 degree review and analysis of all aspects of the region’s water resources. Findings and recommendations will be vetted through an Executive Committee made up of policy and decision makers responsible for adoption, prioritization, and implementation.

The first meeting of the entire Blue Stream Task Force will be this Thursday, Mar. 5 at University of Memphis Law School. During this gathering, the group hopes to create an immediate short range strategy implementation, as well as a long range strategy to grow and protect our water assets. They will also focus on the best way to market and brand the city’s water resources as the vital asset they are.