When did the narrative around our waterways become dominated by fear and danger? Instead of seeing the waterways as a threat and focusing on all the ways it can hurt us, the work of these participants shift the pervading rhetoric towards one of action. To face climate change, we must feel empowered to do so. WATER [em]POWER focuses us toward artists, organizations, and individuals who engage in building our relationship to the waterways as a means of discovery, knowing, and empowerment.