River Voices: December 2025
Welcome to the December 2025 edition of River Voices. This month we’re thrilled to release a video profile of a tree planting project in Nashville, TN, funded by River Network’s Rooting Resilience Program. We also share several resources to up your skills in online marketing and community engagement.
The Rooting Resilience Program provides funding and assistance for communities to improve their urban and community forests. These trees will improve local water quality, build resilience to extreme weather, and benefit community health, connections, and well-being. As we wind down the first full year of work for our Rooting Resilience Program, we’re reflecting on its impact.
We’re excited to share a video profile of our grantee, Green Interchange, in Nashville, TN. Their project will make streets safer for kids to get to school, keep everyone cooler in the summer, and build community connection.
What takes 50,000 trees, two charter buses full of volunteers, and LOTS of shovels? A tree planting event, hosted by the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, which brought over 400 people to Preston, Idaho to help restore a sacred site, Wuda Ogwa (the Bear River Massacre site). This Rooting Resilience Grantee was profiled in a local news broadcast.
Proposed changes to “Waters of the US“ or “WOTUS“ would reduce the number of wetlands and streams protected under the Clean Water Act. Wetlands and streams play critical roles in safeguarding communities from pollution and flooding, providing drinking water, and protecting our health and safety. Read our blog to learn more about the potential impacts and how to take action.
Do you engage stakeholders and communities for your watershed projects? Check out the new collection of Engagement Programming resources, hosted by The Confluence for Watershed Leaders. This list of templates, tools, and tips can help you refine your engagement efforts and enhance your impact.
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.
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice’s Water Justice Training Institute
February 2026 – May 2026
The Water Justice Training Institute is offering 7 virtual workshops (February 2026 – May 2026) for community leaders to learn about flood and water contamination mapping, utilizing public flood maps, advocating for solutions, engaging decision-makers, and creating water advocacy toolkits. They are seeking community-based organizations (CBOs) in FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, AR. A $30,000 stipend will be provided to participating CBOs to support their initiatives.
Monster Under the Bed: How to Overcome Your Fear of Your Website
January 15
River Network is hosting a learning series on communications and outreach with Bold Bison. In this learning session, we will cover some of the common challenges and easy, low-cost, and stress-free solutions for maintaining your website – and create a brand new one along the way! The session will take place on Thursday, January 15, 11am-12:30pm PT/2-3:30 pm ET.
Other Communications Learning Sessions: Storytelling and Marketing
Online Recaps
Did you miss the first two sessions of the communication series? You can watch recaps of each below!
Watch Recording: Once Upon a Time – Telling More Memorable Stories
Watch Recording: Shout it from the Rooftops – D.I.Y. Marketing Made Fun, Efficient, and Cost Effective
The Flow of Trust: Launching the Water Utility–Community Communications Guide
December 11, Virtual
Join for the launch event of this new guide and learn about: the crucial role of communications in building trust, communications dos and don’ts for water utilities and community members, and case studies on navigating communications challenges. The guide was produced by The Water Hub, The Junction Coalition, and Rogue Water Lab. The session will be hosted this Friday, Dec 11 at 10am PT/1pm ET.
What We’re Reading
- 🤖 The Data Center Resistance Has Arrived (Wired)
- 🇨🇱 Trump’s All-but-Forgotten Border Wall Reaches an Angry Laredo, Texas (New York Times, features River Network member organization Rio Grande International Study Center)
- 🔌 Experts, not Obstacles: Indigenous Conservation Excellence and the Trap of Conservation at any Cost (Harvard Kennedy School)
