River Rally 2019 featured the first Idea Exchanges: unique opportunities for attendees to connect during River Rally and beyond, to build their knowledge and network related to specific issues their communities may be facing. Skilled facilitators led structured conversations around Civic Engagement and four key issues: Safe, Clean, and Affordable Drinking Water; Water Laws and… Read More ›
Twenty years ago, River Network began bringing together our nation’s river champions and water protectors at our annual River Rally conference. This year’s event was held on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the last time the river caught fire, an event that informed the modern environmental… Read More ›
At the moment he ascended to the podium, James Rasmussen wasn’t exactly certain what he was going to say. A capacity crowd was gathered in the ballroom of the Westin Cleveland Downtown Hotel for the annual River Rally conference. Among the honorees nominated by his peers to receive a 2019 River Hero Award, he walked… Read More ›
What is more refreshing than jumping into a river or lake on a hot day? In many urban areas, we are seeing a resurgence of interest in swimming and boating in waters that have long been considered off limits. Our urban rivers suffer from a bad reputation because they have been subject to decades, if… Read More ›
Rivers here in the southeast are special places, ranging from quiet, blackwater rivers in the Coastal Plain to raging whitewater in the mountains and everything in between. Over the last three years, since my colleague Katherine Baer and I, with the support of many people, researched and wrote the first edition of the Protecting and… Read More ›
Nearly 41 million Americans, or 13 percent of the U.S. population, are exposed to the risk of flooding each year. Such sobering statistics may not surprise you given the images of hurricanes and large storms that have received so much public attention in recent years: Maria, Harvey, Sandy, Katrina … the list goes on. Yet,… Read More ›
I’ve worked on water policy and advocacy issues for more years than I’d like to admit… But, as River Network started to respond to our community’s desire for more resources and tools to address drinking water issues they face, I was overwhelmed by all of the things I didn’t know. I understood where our water… Read More ›
Corporate commitment to conserving, protecting, and replenishing water in business operations and in the environment is growing. The challenge to investing in water outside the four walls of those businesses? Connecting to meaningful activities and projects in watersheds, at the local level. It is projects like the environmental flow and restoration of Pine Tree Brook… Read More ›
The Business for Water Stewardship Project Bank (BWS Project Bank) is a website where river groups feature their restoration projects and connect to businesses who want to support water restoration. Over twenty-five River Network member-groups have signed up to use the BWS Project Bank and nine organizations have uploaded projects to the Bank. Here… Read More ›
Updated 3/13/19 Since President Trump took office in January of 2016, we all knew it was coming. From the beginning, Trump and former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt were clear that repealing and replacing the Clean Water Rule was a priority. Now, nearly two years later, it has finally happened. On Dec. 11, 2018, the Trump… Read More ›
