TreePeople Receives $100,000 Commitment from Canadian Blue Water Project

TreePeople announced today a $100,000 Leadership Grant from the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Blue Water Project. The grant supports TreePeople’s Urban Watershed Initiative to increase community involvement and effect policy change to help secure future water supply. Through education, forestry, and stormwater capture programs, TreePeople inspires local residents to make Greater Los Angeles a healthier and more sustainable city.

“The threat to our region’s water supply posed by climate change is very real,” said Andy Lipkis, President and Founder of TreePeople. “This grant allows TreePeople’s partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to make major strides toward using rain water to help reduce that threat—and ultimately empower all Angelenos to participate in securing our water, and our future. We are deeply honored to be recipients of RBC’s international award.”

“Water is our most precious natural resource, and we know that industry, government, business, and individuals can all play a part in protecting urban water,” said Bob Spangler, Managing Director and Manager of the Municipal Finance West Region at RBC Capital Markets. “We are pleased to help TreePeople contribute to a more sustainable water cycle for Southern California for generations to come.”

TreePeople’s Urban Watershed Initiative is designed both to effect policy change in the region and create programs for wide-scale community participation. Through this grant, TreePeople will work in partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to create the city’s first Stormwater Capture Master Plan, and design and implement home incentive programs, such as rain gardens, to engage local residents in stormwater capture.

According to LADWP, Los Angeles imports 89% of its water. Yet the city wastes almost all of its rain, sending it to the ocean loaded with pollutants. The traditional approach to rainwater capture has been spreading grounds where rain can infiltrate and recharge local aquifers. But with so much of Los Angeles’s land covered by buildings and pavement, this approach is limited. A sustainable Los Angeles needs to include residents and businesses capturing water on their own properties. This grant will allow TreePeople to continue to work with policymakers, LADWP, and the community to determine how much of our water can be locally captured.

RBC Blue Water Project Leadership Grants fund programs in towns and cities with populations of more than 10,000 people that focus on:

·         Improving urban water quality;

·         Improving management of urban storm and rain water, such as building awareness about low-impact design or the use of natural systems to control storm or rain water;

·         The efficient use of water in towns and cities; or

·         Protecting and restoring urban waterways.

This year, RBC has pledged $2.3 million in Leadership and Community Action Grants, globally, to 123 organizations that are committed to solving urban water problems, and protecting water in towns and cities.

TreePeople is one of only 36 organizations selected worldwide to receive a 2013 RBC Blue Water Project Leadership Grant.

About TreePeople
Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2013, TreePeople is an environmental nonprofit that unites the power of trees, people, and nature-based solutions to grow a greener city. TreePeople involves people of all ages in environmental education, forestry programs, demonstration projects, and policy outreach initiatives that make Greater Los Angeles a healthier and more sustainable city. To learn more, visit www.treepeople.org.

About RBC Blue Water Project
The RBC Blue Water Project is an historic, wide-ranging, 10-year global commitment to help protect the world’s most precious natural resource: fresh water. Since 2007, RBC has pledged over $38 million to more than 650 charitable organizations worldwide that protect water, with an additional $7.8 million pledged to universities for water programs. In 2013–2014, the RBC Blue Water Project will focus on supporting initiatives that help protect water in towns, cities, and urbanized areas. For further information, visit www.rbc.com/bluewater.

About RBC’s Commitment to Community and Sustainability

Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries operate under the master brand name RBC. We employ approximately 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 15 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 44 other countries. RBC is recognized among the world’s financial, social and environmental leaders and is listed on the 2012–2013 Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, the DJSI North American Index, the Jantzi Social Index and the FTSE4Good Index. RBC is one of Canada’s Greenest Employers, one of Canada’s 50 Most Socially Responsible Corporations and among the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. Learn more at www.rbc.com/community-sustainability.

RBC supports a broad range of community initiatives through donations, sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2012, we contributed more than $95 million to causes worldwide, including donations and community investments of more than $64 million and $31 million in sponsorships.