Programs Overview

Helping People Understand, Protect and Restore Rivers and Their Watersheds

River Network helps freshwater protection groups form and organize, grow strong, become effective and work together. We serve as a catalyst for grassroots organization and action, a center for information and resources, a source of training and consultation, and a means of connection for groups working on related issues.

We support groups as they build stable and effective nonprofit organizations. We help them establish long-term goals, set priorities, develop action plans, secure financial and other resources, cultivate leadership, build public communications programs and measure the impact of their work.

We also provide technical assistance. We help groups establish useful monitoring programs, interpret data that they and others collect, establish priorities for protection and restoration, and understand the Clean Water Act and other important laws and programs. We develop tools and approaches for groups with concerns about the effects of water pollution, disruptions of flow patterns, habitat damage and other river problems affecting human health and aquatic life.

Through publications and our website, we provide a wide variety of general information on watershed protection. We also provide a great depth of information in our areas of expertise, including organizational development, water quality monitoring and the Clean Water Act.

Each year, we organize the National River Rally, which brings together hundreds of leaders of the watershed protection movement from across the United States. Over the past few years the River Rally has grown in size and importance. It is now the focal point for professional advancement, strategy development, networking and organizing for the national watershed protection community. Hundreds of leaders build their calendars around this event each year.