Causes: Community Improvement & Capacity Building, Environment, Natural Resources Conservation & Protection, Pollution Abatement & Control

Mission: River Network empowers and unites people and communities to protect and restore rivers and other waters that sustain all life.

Results: In the past year - Coordinated and funded 14 events in 12 states utilizing over 1,000 volunteers who removed more than eight tons of trash from waterways, planted hundreds of trees and shrubs for restoration projects, removed tons of invasive plant species, built new public access docks and trails, and implemented stormwater infiltration gardens to reduce polluted runoff. Campaign to Sustain Water and Energy’s Peer Learning Network provided dozens of communities across the country with individual mentoring and messaging assistance that helped advance their energy, water and climate change efforts locally. Tangible results included upgraded standards in Massachusetts for stream crossings (based on the potential for climate change induced flooding), climate change vulnerability assessment for the Kickapoo tribe in Oklahoma, and major media coverage of a water-energy report in Idaho.

Programs: Our unique niche in the national conservation community is that we are the only organization that exists primarily to help regional, state and local grassroots river and watershed protection groups be more effective in their work. We fill this niche with a combination of capacity building (fundraising training, strategic planning assistance, re-grants, etc. ), technical/policy assistance (e. g. , on habitat restoration and the Clean Water Act), and leadership on cutting-edge issues such as climate change and the water-energy nexus.