Rivers, Energy & Climate

With climate change looming as the defining environmental, political and economic issue of the 21st century, two things are clear for river protection groups in the United States: our water resources will be increasingly vulnerable and carbon emissions must be reduced to lessen the consequences of global warming.

Recognizing these fundamental aspects of climate change, River Network launched the “Saving Water, Saving Energy” program in 2007 to help watershed groups tackle the climate crisis head-on.

With a focus on water-related energy use--which is equivalent to at least 13% of the United States' annual electricity consumption--we are helping grassroots groups across the country promote water conservation, efficiency, reuse and low-impact development as effective strategies that can help communities prevent and prepare for the worst impacts of global warming on our rivers

Our 2010-2015 Action Plan adds a new focus on the water-related impacts of energy production, in particular to support the work of groups promoting clean, water-saving energy sources, such as wind and photovoltaic solar.

Learn more about our strategic approach to provide

More Water in Our Rivers and Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Strategies, Outcomes & Benchmarks

Read about our collective efforts on behalf of rivers everywhere in

The Way Forward: Action Plan for 2010-2015

Stories & Alerts

Download Warming Watersheds Workshop Materials from River Rally 2010

This year’s National River Rally took place May 21-24 at Snowbird, UT and was a huge success. Here we have collected the materials from workshops in our Warming Watersheds track, which covered a range of issues related to water, energy and climate change.

All Stories & Alerts

Contact Information

Wendy Wilson
SWSE Project Director
(208) 345-3689

Bevan Griffiths-Sattenspiel
SWSE Project Coordinator
(503) 542-8395