Environmental issues in our waterways are rising around the world as the stormwater runoff water quality brings concerns to the community. Protect Wisconsin Waterways (PWW) is working with community members, UW-Whitewater Creative Marketing Unlimited (CMU), and the Rock River Stormwater Group to make a difference in many different communities.

Protect Wisconsin Waterways is a stormwater education outreach initiative to help improve the health of the waterways. (Protect Wisconsin Waterways, 2019) With water being a natural resource to everyone, PWW is working with many people to clear the waterways and make them a clean stream. One of the main waterways this program watches is the Rock River. This river is a main concern for community members between Beaver Dam to Beloit. Cheyanne Broeckel, a resident in the city of Beloit, states “I take walks along the river and it is disappointing when the water isn’t clear and it looks cloudy.” Cheyanne isn’t the only community member that has noticed these issues in the waterway. Other community members around the different municipalities have also realized these rising issues. The health of the waterways affects many different areas such as sustaining wildlife, recreation, business, and community development as a whole.

Community members are coming together to understand the issue of the waterways and learn ways that they can help. Pollution is collected from parking lots, driveways, and roads throughout the basin which flows directly into the waterways. (Protect Wisconsin Waterways, 2019) Wes Enterline, President of the Rock River Stormwater Group, states “One of the main reasons why the Rock River is cloudy is because the untreated water from the rain and snowmelt pollutes the river itself and its tributaries.” Wes works very closely to PWW as his group works to educate and reach community members to help them make the waterways better not only the environment but also their small communities.

The Rock River Stormwater Group believes that keeping the waterways healthy is not a natural process but a project that people need to put effort into to make a difference for their community. PWW focuses not only on the impact that they can have on the waterways right from their backyard but also the work they need to put together to help the Rock River by keeping the pollutants out of the path of stormwater runoff. (Protect Wisconsin Waterways, 2019) PWW is in the process of creating programs for community members to pitch in and help protect their waterways.

Every year, PWW puts on a program called the clean sweep where community members in the different municipalities come together in their city to spend time cleaning excessive garbage out of the waterway. Kate Amerling, UW-Whitewater AMA President, states “I live very close to the Rock River, so it is a little part of home. I help protect Wisconsin waterways by participating in the clean sweeps and I am a part of the storm drain protective program.” They also have volunteers who are considered stream monitors. A stream monitor watches the health of the streams by recording stream flow and clarity as well as cataloging all the creatures living within the water. (Protect Wisconsin Waterways, 2019) UW-Whitewater students that belong to CMU also work together to go door to door in the municipalities to inform residents, who have storm drains in front of their house, about what they can do to help keep the waterways healthy. The work that PWW puts together to create a learning experience for the community will help maintain the health of the waterways.

The many events that PWW puts together to keep the communities informed continues to grow each year. Watch for events on their website for specific dates at protectwiwaterways.org.