LiKEN Launches Three Water Resilience Toolkits to Build Water Knowledge, Community Power, and Resilience in Appalachia
- LiKEN Team
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
New open-access resources give Harlan County, Martin County, and other communities in Kentucky the knowledge to understand, protect, and act on their water systems at a time when it has never mattered more.
LiKEN has officially launched three free, online toolkits designed to help communities build local knowledge, strengthen collaboration, and create more resilient water futures: the Community Engagement Guide, the Harlan County Water Resilience Toolkit, and the Martin County Water Resilience Toolkit. All three are freely available now at LiKENKnowledge.org, with individual pages downloadable for sharing and offline use.
Why This Matters and Why Now
Across Central Appalachia, communities are confronting a convergence of crises. Aging and under–funded water and wastewater infrastructure is buckling under the pressure of frequent and severe floods, droughts, and extreme weather events. With federal and state funding for rural and underserved communities shrinking, this makes it harder than ever for residents to get straight answers, access reliable resources, or even have a meaningful voice in decisions that shape their water systems.
The stakes could not be higher. As LiKEN has witnessed through years of community–engaged work in Harlan and Martin Counties, knowledge is power, and that power is needed urgently right now. Communities that understand how their water systems work, what to do in an emergency, who to call, and how to organize are communities that can protect themselves, advocate effectively, and shape better outcomes. These toolkits exist to make that possible.
Three Tools, One Mission
Community Engagement Guide: For communities facing water problems, or for anyone who wants to take action but does not know where to start. Our guide offers practical tools for organizing meetings, building brave spaces, centering local voices, and mobilizing for lasting change. An extensive glossary ensures it is accessible to residents of all backgrounds.
Harlan County Water Resilience Toolkit: Tailored to Harlan County’s unique landscape of multiple community water systems, this toolkit was developed through five years of community-engaged work, including listening sessions with water operators, system managers, city council members, water board members, and community residents. We explain where water comes from, what can go wrong, what to do in emergencies, who to contact, and how to engage at the community, state, and federal levels.
Martin County Water Resilience Toolkit: Grounded in five years of community–engaged work, this toolkit covers how Martin County’s water and wastewater systems work, what discolored water can mean, emergency steps, local system contacts, certified labs for water testing, and fact sheets for each zone of the water system. Above all, this is built on a conviction: Martin County’s water story is not defined by the stigma of “bad water.” That is not the community’s narrative anymore.
From the Community, For the Community
All three toolkits are created through LiKEN’s Water Collaboratory program and the collaborative research project “Water and Climate Equity” (WCE), developed in partnership with the Pacific Institute and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP). The content was shaped between 2022 and 2026 through iterative knowledge exchange across residents, technical experts, water system operators, government officials, and local leaders, with special attention given to those most exposed to water risks.
Already, early feedback from Harlan County residents has shaped real–time improvements, and there is strong interest from other Appalachian communities seeking similar resources for their own water stories. LiKEN plans to expand this work with a how-to-guide for communities wanting to develop their own locally tailored water resilience toolkit.
Get Involved
All three toolkits are free, openly available, and easy to share. Whether you are a resident, a community leader, a water board member, or a decision-maker, these resources are for you. Visit LiKENKnowledge.org to explore all three toolkits, download individual pages, and share them widely. Each toolkit includes a feedback form because your voice helped shape these tools, and LiKEN wants your help to keep improving them.