River Voices: September 2025
Welcome to the September 2025 edition of River Voices. This month we’re sharing a story about litter booms from West Michigan and introducing the NEW River Smart Communities Guidebook. Plus, the premium membership discount (join or renewal at 20% off) is extended! Get yours before 9/16 to be eligible for Rally discounts next year!
Earlier this year, on an idyllic spring morning in Grand Rapids, Michigan, partners and supporters gathered on the banks of what is now called Plaster Creek (Ken-O-Sha). Through a canopy of budding and flowering trees, dappled sunlight made this degraded urban stream sparkle. The soft hum of traffic from Madison Avenue, paired with morning birdsong, set a perfect soundtrack to talk about the intersection of nature and one of humankind’s more unsightly tendencies: littering.
Hear from River Network’s Hannah Mico about this celebratory day installing a litter boom device and the people powering its successful implementation and maintenance in service of clean water for all.
After the ribbon was cut, and the event came to a close, a few white-tailed deer were spotted upstream: they waded through the Creek and crossed to the opposite bank. This quiet moment showed a glimpse of the healthy and restorative Plaster Creek could be, in a World Without Waste.”
This month, and as we mark the 20th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, revisit Flow Funder Arthur Johnson’s story, originally published in 2023.
Arthur is a leader in his community, New Orleans’s Lower Ninth Ward, which had the highest density of mortality and the highest density of structural damage to houses from Hurricane Katrina. Arthur understands that in addition to climate resilience, his community has multiple concerns—access to affordable housing, jobs, decision-making, historical preservation, and a sense of belonging—and that these are ALL important in creating sustainability and equitable climate resilience.
Members are the lifeblood of the network, and the whole reason River Network exists! If you benefit from our work, join or renew your premium membership today!
If you renew before September 16, you’ll save 20% on membership rates AND get a discount on River Rally registration next spring.
Show your support for us and the nationwide network of water, justice, and river protectors – connecting us all has never been more important!
We are thrilled to share the new River Smart Communities Guidebook, created to help communities build a roadmap for IRM and use as a reference guide when implementing the River Smart Community framework. It provides resources, case studies, and best practices to support communities as they build holistic river management and adopt the principles of IRM. Look for workshops and training opportunities coming soon, that will bring the information in the Guidebook to life and an interactive series of in-person or virtual sessions.
Join a Training Series in Our Online Learning Platform
Our Online Learning Platform offers cohort style, hybrid training courses (a mix of synchronous, interactive training and self-paced content) as well as entirely self-paced trainings to help grow and strengthen network members. Current topics include building trust with water utilities, the Clean Water Act, State Revolving Funds, and more.
National Voter Registration Day
September 16
With critical state and local elections happening across the country, this year’s National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) is more important than ever. These elections will shape policies on education, public safety, healthcare, and more—yet many eligible voters remain unregistered. A nonpartisan civic holiday, NVRD is a nationwide movement that engages thousands of organizations to help register voters and spread awareness.
U.S. WASH Technical Assistance Conversation Series
September – January
The Vessel Collective’s Technical Assistance Coordination Working Group launched a new series in July. These monthly virtual sessions will spotlight key themes across the technical, financial, and managerial dimensions of US water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) assistance. Designed as spaces for peer learning, connection, and insight-sharing, these conversations are also a vital step in informing a national WASH sector needs report.
Roots in Resistance Conference
October 27, 2025
Equity Legal Services, Inc. invites you to their environmental justice conference, which will bring together grassroots organizers, legal advocates, scientists, public health experts, and community members who are confronting some of our most significant environmental injustices. Keynote speaker Catherine Coleman Flowers is a River Hero, and many other network partners will be in attendance and/or speaking SRF State Advocates Forum cohort members, Kingdom Pathways, and Wisdom Institute.
Partners in Community Forestry Conference
November 19-20, 2025
Join the Arbor Day Foundation and get a first look at the sessions, speakers, and events that will shape this year’s gathering of urban forestry professionals, community leaders, and advocates from across the country. Whether you’re passionate about innovation in tree planting, creative partnerships, or the latest research in urban forestry, there’s something for everyone.
What We’re Reading
- 🔢 Lead Service Line Replacement Cost Calculator (Environmental & Public Health International)
- 📣 “A call to merge the climate and immigration movements” (HEATED interview with Colette Pichon Battle)
- 🏔️ ColoradoRiver.com (new online hub from Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources)
- 💵 Reinvesting in Racial and Indigenous Health Equity Research Call for Proposals (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
- 💧 America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2026 (nominations open at American Rivers)
- 🍂 “Human emissions driving Colorado River ‘megadrought,’ CU Boulder research finds” (Colorado Public Radio)
- 🌿 “We live with abundance. Philanthropy scarcity is fake news.” (Community-Centric Fundraising)
- 💡 “How Nonprofits Can Adapt Their Operational and Financial Strategies in Today’s Economic Environment” (The CPA Journal)
- 💙 “How Our Nonprofit Got a 40-Week Paid Parental Leave Policy” (Nonprofit Quarterly)
