Partners

Cascade Meadow has already started working with several organizations and institutions of higher education. Our current partners include:

  • Rochester Public Utilities (RPU), the city-owned electric and water company, was approached to be a partner at Cascade Meadow in order to add educational expertise on energy and groundwater related topics consistent with the Cascade Meadow mission and goals. Through the partnership, RPU leases approximately 2,000 square feet for energy and water education purposes. RPU has installed the Conserve and Save Energy Fun House exhibit, the Water Footprint exhibit, and partnered on the Water Connections exhibit. RPU has committed to increasing the educational experience for visitors by hiring an Energy and Groundwater Educator on-site. This person gives tours of the RPU exhibits and facility, develops related curriculum, and is available to answer questions. RPU also has financially supported the effort to build Cascade Meadow as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building by installing the wind and solar power systems on site. RPU has four distinct goals guiding their partnership with Cascade Meadow.
    1. Provide customers with an educational resource for helping them manage their energy use.
    2. Demonstrate market ready renewable means of generating electricity.
    3. Communicate and demonstrate possible future means of electric generation (i.e. smart grid).
    4. Provide our customers with a local forum to gain the most pertinent and relevant information about drinking water, ground water protection, and water conservation.
  • The Rochester Public Works Department, which is responsible for the City’s storm water infrastructure system and storm water management program, installed the Streets to Waterways exhibit and partnered on the Water Connections exhibit. Their staff have delivered and will continue to provide storm water education programming. RPW’s goals guiding their partnership with Cascade Meadow are to:
    1. Find opportunities to showcase Cascade Meadow’s best practices for storm water management as models for our storm water utility customers,
    2. Provide customers with education and public participation activities at Cascade Meadow that make storm water management and water quality issues relevant to their lives, and to
    3. Partner with Cascade Meadow on real-time monitoring and research projects that advance storm water management and water resource protection practices.
  • Rochester Water Reclamation Plant partnered on the Water Connections exhibit and has installed the Down the Drain exhibit.
  • The Zumbro Watershed Partnership, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving water quality in the Zumbro River Watershed, will house their office at Cascade Meadow and will provide watershed-based educational programming there.

If you are a school, business, non-profit organization, governmental agency, or other organization whose mission aligns with Cascade Meadow, we invite you to consider collaborating with us on high quality educational experiences about water, energy and wetlands. Please contact us with your ideas about how you can make a contribution to our success.