River Days of Action!

Get out and enjoy our river!  Wherever you are in the Upper Mississippi Basin, you can visit a stream and be part of the flow of the watershed.   Celebrate River Days of Action - June 6-15,  2026!

Dedicated days where we make ripples into waves.
Experiencing and connecting with the Mighty Miss is the best way to become one with the River. Experience the joy of making a real impact through hands-on activities and events. Participate in canoe excursions, restoration projects, engaging webinars, and more events that inspire action for our people, land, water, and wildlife. 

River Days now begins with a new, annual tradition – a day dedicated to the River: National Mississippi River Day on June 2nd. Learn more and get involved here.   There are events up and down the river so you can find something in your area!  

LWV UMRR is co-sponsoring an event in Muscatine on June 5.    The day will start out with a tour of the Stanley Center for Peace and Security in Muscatine.  The Stanley Center advocates for systemic change and policy progress around the globe. Their founders, Max and Betty Stanley, established an endowment for the center’s work. The proceeds fully fund the Center's operations and programming today.
Working together with partners, the Stanley Center organizes global convenings, commissions original research, produces and develops important stories, creates fellowships, and provides additional tangible resources to help achieve their collective goals.  Their three topic areas are reduction of the threat from nuclear weapons, climate change and mass violence and atrocities.  

The agenda for the day also includes lunch with a speaker and a tour of nearby Lock and Dam #16.   Join LWV UMRR in Muscatine for this informative and fun event on June 5!

LWV Johnson County also go into the act for River Days of Action, working with the City of Iowa City to make a proclamation about the Mississippi and its importance to Iowans.    LWV members Cathy Eisenhofer and Nancy Porter attended the Iowa City, Iowa, City Council Meeting on May 21.  They were first on the agenda as Council Member Shawn Harmsen, who was raised along the Mississippi River, read the Proclamation, and Mayor Bruce Teague signed the document.  Nancy spoke at the mic as a LWV member of JCLWV and UMRR ILO and UMRR representative to One Mississippi.

As a public school educator in Iowa City and always a teacher, Nancy added the information that Iowa’s farm landscape is responsible for at a large share of the nutrient pollution entering the Gulf of Mexico and in a recent survey by the U of Missouri, only 19% of people living in Iowa knew they lived in the watershed of the Mississippi.
 Too many people need  educating on the power and importance of the Mississippi River.
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Nancy thanked the City Council for allowing citizen input through proclamations and noted several individuals working for the City who helped make this event happen for the Mississippi River. She ended with announcing she’ll be back next year to honor the River and invited the Council to celebrate the Mississippi River on June 5 with LWV Johnson County.

Mayor Bruce Teague of Iowa City holds the Mississippi River Proclamation after he signed it.