The course is a companion to our book, The Clean Water Act Owner's Manual. Course content is structured to help you:

·        isolate specific water quality problems

·        identify possible solutions

·        develop and leverage existing programs

·        build effective outreach tools

The goal is to help you better understand: 1) laws established to protect our rivers, and 2) the power you have to exercise this knowledge to protect the rivers you love!

The course is appropriate for staff, interns, volunteers and board members interested in learning more about the force of the Clean Water Act and related tools. Even Clean Water Act old-timers will likely find something to ponder in the local stories, digging deeper and resources sections.  If you train staff or volunteers on the Act, you’ll also find some special training tools to help you get your points across.

Over the next year, we’ll regularly add new content and technology to the site – so keep checking back.  We’re considering adding more quizzes, slideshows and activist testimonials, and would welcome your feedback and ideas as well! 

To share your thoughts, contact Merritt Frey.

Would you also like to have these references at your fingertips?  Order the 2nd Edition of our Clean Water Act Owner’s Manual, available at River Network’s online Marketplace.

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The National River Heroes, a peer-nominated award inaugurated in 2002, annually celebrates rivers and recognizes individuals in the watershed movement who: Provide leadership; Inspire the work of others; Utilize innovative strategies and techniques to achieve significant results; Foster the growth and sustainability of a watershed community.

To date, thirty-three outstanding individuals have been honored as National River Heroes.

The 2008 National River Heroes are:

Dr. David Baker, Director Emeritus, National Center for Water Quality Research at Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio

Bernie Dahl, Immediate Past President, Banks of the Wabash, Inc; and Professor at Purdue University, West LaFayette, Indiana

John Tippett, Executive Director, Friends of the Rappahannock, Fredericksburg, Virginia

Robert Ruffner, Executive Director, Kenai Watershed Forum, Soldotna, Alaska

Rob Hutsel, Executive Director, The San Diego River Park Foundation, San Diego, California

In addition to the River Heroes, River Network selects one individual each year to receive the James R. Compton Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating a life-long commitment to river conservation.

The 2008 honoree is JoAnn Burkholder, Professor of Applied Aquatic Ecology at NC State University, North Carolina.

Click here to read more about this year’s River Heroes.

Tom's of Maine generously supports the River Heroes Awards and Banquet. Thank you!

Now, it is ready for you to use in yours!

What can you do with IMRivers? Imagine this: You are out on the river and see a violation. You take a photo or video, capture waypoint coordinates using any GPS unit and upload the digital file with your notes directly to your IMRivers mapsite -either directly on the river via a wireless connection or when you get back to the office. Within minutes, agency officials, stakeholders, the media and the public can see what is going on. The violation's time and place are precisely documented and recorded. Just like that!

How much does it cost? Click here for more information, including case studies from Hurricane Creekkeeper (AL), Muddy Water Watch Citizen Patrols (NC) and Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition (CT).

Dates of Note:

• Feb. 1: Registration Opens
• Feb. 8: River Hero Nominations Due  
• March 13: Scholarship Applications Due 
• April 15: Last day to register before $50 Late Fee

Lodging will be assigned on a first-registered/first-served basis. Rates, rooming options, workshops, ancillary events and much more are now available on the River Rally Webpage.

See you in Ohio!

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Mary Ellen Olcese Mary Ellen is joining River Network's staff as Mid-Atlantic Program Manager. She will lead our efforts in the Chesapeake Bay Region and Mid-Atlantic states, bringing more than twenty years of organizational development and fundraising experience to our expanding programs, the past eight as an independent consultant providing professional services to local nonprofits, including many watershed and river groups working on Chesapeake Bay issues.

Born and raised outside of Philadelphia, PA, Mary Ellen's early years were consumed with an athletic career as a competitive swimmer on the national and international level, achieving national champion and world record status in the 400 Individual Medley. She attended the University of Pennsylvania and received a Masters degree in Education from Boston University. Prior to moving to the Eastern Shore of MD in 1987, she coached college swimming for 10 years at Northeastern University, Springfield College and Eastern Michigan University.

Mary Ellen resides in St. Michaels, MD with husband, John and daughter, Maura, Oscar the basset hound and Gil the cat. In her free time, she enjoys working outside- particularly gardening, running and traveling to unique places.

Merritt Frey Merritt is joining River Network's staff as the Western Clean Water Act Project Manager.  She will be based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and brings over a decade of Clean Water Act experience on the federal and state levels to her new position, with a focus on water quality standards, pollution control permits and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). 

Merritt has most recently been the Executive Director of the Utah Rivers Council. Under her leadership, the organization became a leader on Clean Water Act advocacy, proposed and passed important legislation on water conservation, pushed Wild and Scenic Rivers protection forward in the state, and doubled annual major donor giving.

Before taking over at the Council, Merritt worked for the Clean Water Network and the Natural Resources Defense Council organizing more than 1000 groups to influence Clean Water Act policy in Washington, DC. At the Clean Water Network, she also developed an expertise in specific Clean Water Act tools such as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) permitting and TMDLs.

Merritt was a recipient of the W.C. Kenney Foundation's Leadership Grant ('05-'07) and was recently appointed by the Governor to the Utah Water Quality Board. If you can believe she has any spare time, she is an avid angler and backpacker.

Julie Noble A recent graduate of Portland State University with a BS degree in Geography, Julie joins River Network as our newest Partnership Program Intern. Julie will coordinate online resources for our Partners, provide assistance to the Partnership and other programs, and lead a major project to update the online National Directory of River and Watershed Groups.

Growing up on the Hudson River and taking weeklong adventures with her family all along the river in their little lemon yellow skiff, her pride and respect for all rivers grew into a passion. After living on the banks of the Hudson, Merrimack, Charles and Danube rivers, Julie fell in love with Portland, and now calls the Willamette Basin home. When she's not helping save rivers, Julie likes to take advantage of bike-friendly Portland, collect vinyl records and work on her friend's online database of urban wild food sources.

Bevan Griffith-Sattenspiel With a keen interest in global warming, Bevan joins River Network as our Saving Energy by Saving Water Intern. He will be working closely with Don Elder as we launch this exciting new program nationwide this year, and also helping develop online materials and a new Water-Energy Use Calculator.

Born and raised in Salem, OR, Bevan spent the past few years in Los Angeles, where he attended Occidental College, graduating in May with a BA in American Studies-Environmental Emphasis, and interning for New America Foundation's Political Reform Program. After attending the Alliance Toward Harnessing Global Opportunities' UN Forum on Climate Change, Bevan realized 1) he really wanted to do environmental work, and 2) his true home is in the Northwest. Besides learning more about water, energy and global warming, Bevan's main interests include surfing and snowboarding, which in Oregon you can do both in the same day!

JR Ralston JR joins River Network as our newest Staff Accountant. After 16 years working as a corporate controller, JR decided to swim in the nonprofit world. Before graduating from the University of Oregon with a BS in Physical Education, and gaining a BA in Business Administration from Washington State University, JR spent her youth in Oakridge, OR, with the Willamette River for a backyard and the Willamette National Forest for a playground. She even had a summer stint with the Forest Service as an "owl hooter". When she's not crunching numbers, JR enjoys running, bird and wildlife watching, fishing and camping.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. Surrounded by Virginia and Maryland, the Bay's watershed covers 64,000 square miles and parts of six states (NY, PA, DE, MD, VA, WV, plus DC). More than 150 rivers and streams drain into the Bay.

Federal, state and local governments, academic groups, foundations, and environmental nonprofits have been supporting restoration and protection programs throughout the Chesapeake Bay for more than two decades. These efforts have produced significant results in the health and productivity of the Bay, its tributaries, and the ecosystems that compose the larger Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Today, however, the Bay is still substantially impaired in terms of pollution, and much less productive than it used to be because of runoff from urban areas and farms, increasing population and new development, over harvesting, and invasion of foreign species.

River Network's recent surveys of the needs of river conservation groups in the Chesapeake Bay...Read More

That’s exactly what happens when you join the online community called iGive.com. It doesn’t cost a cent to join and once you’re a member, every time you shop at over 680 stores in the Mall at iGive.com, River Network gets a percentage of each purchase you make-at no cost to you!

So sign up today and let your shopping make a difference!

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The Nomination Form and relevant information can be here.

Proposals should be submitted online by 5 pm (Pacific Time) Nov. 8, 2007. Decisions regarding workshops will be made no later than Dec. 31, 2007.

Click here to submit an application or for more information.

Tom’s of Maine is generously providing $1 million in support over five years to our organizations to enhance awareness, understanding and, ultimately, protection of rivers nationwide. Read more

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Rivers Awareness is Tom’s of Maine’s second 5 year River partnership – Tom’s has a longstanding commitment to valuing rivers based on the company’s first statement of belief that  “ . . . both human beings and nature have inherent worth and deserve our respect.” www.tomsofmaine.com/about/statement.asp

Here’s your chance to meet Tom and Kate Chappell, the co-founders of Tom’s of Maine, and staff from American Rivers and River Network. Learn about the wonderful natural products from Tom’s of Maine and get free samples!

San Francisco, California:

1) Store event at Elephant Pharmacy (Los Altos)

When: Monday, October 1, 4:30-6pm

Where: Elephant Pharmacy, Los Altos, 4470 El Camino Real

Phone: 650-472-6800

2) Store event at Elephant Pharmacy (Walnut Creek)

When: Tuesday, October 2, 4:30-6pm

Where:  Elephant Pharmacy, Walnut Creek, 1388 S. California Blvd

Phone: 925-658-5300

Portland, Oregon:

1) Store event at New Seasons Market

When: Friday, October 5, 4:00 to 6:00pm

Where: New Seasons Market, Arbor Lodge, 6400 N Interstate Ave, Portland

Phone: 503-467-4777  

Hope to see you at these events!

Check out RN Spotlight for more on this exciting new partnership!

Ryan Carter is our new Technical Support Associate, providing in-house technical wizardry and keeping our systems up and running so we can serve you more effectively and efficiently.  The moment he started the staff breathed a collective sigh of relief as long-overdue fixes and updates were made.  Ryan comes from a technical support and web design background, and manages to handle our (sometimes unreasonable) requests with professionalism and candor.  He has already taken the lead on assessing our software and hardware inventory, and we look forward to becoming ever more organized and streamlined with his assistance.

We look forward to having Dawn and Ryan on the River Network team!  Welcome!

River Network participates in the federal employee Combined Federal Campaign (CFC# 10407) and is a proud member of Earth Share of Oregon, Conservation and Preservation Charities of America and Independent Charities of America.

You can make a difference - thanks for your support!

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More information is available on the application.  We hope you can join us!

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