LWV UMRR WEBINARS

Every two months, in the first week of even-numbered months, we host an educational program.  Our program topics always highlight an issue in the Upper Mississippi Basin. They are advertised through our monthly newsletter and open for the public to attend. View our upcoming and past events below or on our YouTube channel.

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MOST RECENT RECORDING

PAST RECORDINGS BY TOPIC 

​agriculture​

• Federal Lawsuit aims to Abolish Swampbuster
  • ​In this video, attorney Katie Garvey from the Environmental Law and Policy Center and Elle Gadient, Delaware County Farmer & Iowa Farmers Union Beginning Farmer Representative discuss a federal lawsuit aimed at abolishing Swampbuster provisions that protect wetlands on agricultural lands. Read more on our blog.
    
  • February 4th, 2025
    
• Briefing on Farm Bill
  • Duane Hovorka, Senior Policy Specialist at the National Wildlife Federation, talks about the Farm Bill. This piece of federal legislation is reauthorized every five years, affecting everyone in the United States. Will this Congress be able to pass the Farm Bill yet this year? Read more on our blog. 
  • ​​August 7th, 2023

BOOK TALKS

• Art Cullen: Marty, We've Crapped in Our Own Nest
  • Co-sponsored by LWV UMRR ILO & LWV Metro Des Moines, this book discussion explores impacts of a changing climate (physically and politically) on the lives of rural Iowans, highlighting stories in Cullen's diverse hometown of Storm Lake. Read more on our blog.
  • March 14th, 2026
• Sonja Trom Eayrs: Dodge County, Inc; Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America​
  • In a compelling firsthand account of one family’s efforts to stand against corporate takeover, Dodge County, Incorporated tells a story of corporate malfeasance. Trom Eayrs argues that far from being an essential or inextricable part of American life, corporatism can and should be fought and curbed, not only for the sake of land, labor, and water but for democracy itself. Read more on our blog.
  • June 3rd, 2025

CLEAN WATER

• ​Clean Water Act Implementation After Sackett 
  • What does the Sackett decision mean for the Clean Water Act, and the streams and wetlands that are no longer protected? Rob Lee, staff attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates, ​discusses the implications. Read more on our blog. 
  • November 6th, 2023
• Groundwater - Critical and Vulnerable
  • ​​Groundwater and surface water in the Driftless Area are inextricably linked, and what happens on the land affects both. In this video, LWV UMRR examines how the system works and how human activities are impacting our water resources. Read more on our blog.
  • April 3rd, 2023
• The Clean Water For All Coalition
  • ​​Clean Water for All (CWfA) is a national non-profit organization started in 2016 to meet the need for a single, comprehensive coalition that advocates for national clean water protections, which in turn benefit watersheds across the country. Read more on our blog.
  • February 6th, 2023

Development 

• Data Centers and other Large Water Users
  • ​​Carrie Jennings, Policy Director for the Freshwater Society, speaks in this webinar on effective groundwater governance. Large water users like data centers, industrial scale agriculture, and beverage companies are eyeing water-rich states in Great Lakes region. State and local governments need to provide guidance for responsible economic development while maintaining a sustainable water supply, and specifically managing groundwater for the long term. Read more on our blog.​
  • April 8th, 2025
• CO2 Pipelines: Activism, Coalitions, and Legislative Strategies 
  • ​​This webinar focuses on the lived experience and activism of three extraordinary women committed to educating communities, environmental groups, non-profits, landowners and individuals about the dangers of CO2 Pipelines and carbon sequestration. Our panel of experts are from Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois - Peg Furshong from CURE, Pam Richert from the Eco-Justice Collaborative, and Jan Norris, activist from Montgomery County Iowa. Read more on our blog.
  • December 4th, 2023
• Carbon Pipelines
  • ​Jess Mazour, Conservation Program Coordinator for the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, spoke about the proposed carbon pipelines that are seeking permission to link ethanol plants with underground storage locations. Jess shared background information on the pipelines and the status of decisions in Iowa, a key state for this set of projects. Read more on our blog.
  • October 3rd, 2022

​LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS

• United, We Stand Stronger!
  • ​LWV's foundation is our local Leagues. We work locally to build and defend democracy, joined together through our State Leagues. At our annual meeting, we discuss how to strengthen the ties that bind us. Read more on our meeting page.
  • May 22nd, 2023
• LWV UMRR: Our origin, mission, work and tools
  • The League of Women Voters Upper Mississippi River Region Inter League Organization was incorporated in 2015.  ​​In this video, Gretchen Sabel, first Chair of UMRR, explains how this ILO is organized, how it came to be, and what it does.
  • May 20th, 2023
    

MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN

• Exploring the Idea of a Mississippi River Compact
  • ​Our speakers in this webinar are John Stack, JD, author of a Note in the Minnesota Law Review examining the feasibility of a Mississippi River Compact; Mayor David Kleis of St. Cloud and Minnesota Senator John Hoffman. Viewers will learn about the legal basis for a potential compact and the recent call by a group of Mayors along the River for a compact. Finally, we look at the political situation and what it would take, at least in one state, to establish such a Compact. Read more on our blog.
  • December 4th, 2024
• The Nature Conservancy's Mississippi River Basin Project
  • ​​This presentation will provide an overview of TNC's Mississippi River Basin project and touch on select actions in Minnesota and elsewhere in the Upper Mississippi River that contribute to a vibrant future for the Mississippi River Basin as a whole. Read more on our blog.
  • ​October 8th, 2024
• Does it take an Act of Congress to protect the Mississippi? 
  • ​​The answer is that Congress is one piece – an important one – of the solution to the Mississippi’s woes. An exciting panel of speakers talked about bills currently in the US Congress that have the potential to greatly affect our river. Read more on our blog.
  • May 21st, 2022

MISSISSIPPI RIVER REGIONS

• A View from Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin on SaltSmart Practices
  • Once salt goes down on roads or sidewalks, it doesn't go away. Salt levels are rising in lakes, streams, and rivers in the Upper Mississippi Basin. Overuse of salt during the winter can damage our built and natural environments. Read more on our blog.
  • August 15th, 2024
• Illinois's Clean Water Forever Campaign
  • ​Robert Hirschfeld is Director of Water Policy for the Prairie Rivers Network. In this video, Robert describes the work that the PRN has begun with their Clean Water Forever campaign. ​Read more on our blog.
  • April 4th, 2024
• St. Cloud's Circular Economy 
  • ​​In this video, Tracy Hodel, St. Cloud's Public Services Director, talks about how the City Of St. Cloud has become a national and global leader in its sustainability work and the many positive community impacts resulting from these actions. Read more on our blog.
  • February 7th, 2024
• River Issues in La Crosse, with Mayor Mitch Reynolds 
  • ​Managing stormwater, keeping the city safe from flooding, dealing with low water that affects river traffic... the Mississippi is the lifeblood of La Crosse, and a mixed blessing.  Mayor Reynolds outlines the challenges posed by the river, and tells about how La Crosse and other cities up and down the river are dealing with the issues. Read more on our blog. 
  • December 5th, 2022​