The LWV Upper Mississippi River Region Inter League Organization consists of 4 State LWV’s 60 local LWV’s About 4000 individuals Twin Cites Chicago The “League of Women Voters Upper Mississippi River Region” is a new organization, formed in 2015. It consists of more than sixty local Leagues in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois – in other words the upper Mississippi river basin from the headwaters at Lake Itasca to the southern tip of Illinois. We proudly include in our membership the four state Leagues of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois as well, and are organized under the LWV of the United States, meaning that we can advocate on federal policy and lawmaking as well. Galena

UMRR chose to focus our initial work on reducing water pollution from excess nutrients - nitrogen and phosphorus. Nutrient pollution leads to excess algae growth that poisons water supplies and causes dead zones, like in the Gulf of Mexico. Our goal is reducing pollution in the Mississippi which is, you know, responsible for the large and ever-growing dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DRAINAGE BASIN NUTRIENT POLLUTION & THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DRAINAGE BASIN To get to that goal means following the source of the pollution through smaller rivers, lakes, field drainage, and urban run-off in driveways and through storm drains.

Groundwater depletion due to over-use is also a growing focus of the work of LWV UMRR. This is a particular concern in areas of Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Our strategy has been education, education, education and now collaboration and more collaboration with environmental groups working on clean water. Thanks to funding from 1 Mississippi, we have been training Watershed Game facilitators to work with local groups in understanding the tradeoffs that are needed to ensure water quality for future generations. The Watershed Game is an interactive, educational tool that helps individuals understand the connection between land use and water quality.  Participants learn how a variety of land uses impact water and natural resources, increase their knowledge of best management practices (BMPs), and learn how their choices can prevent adverse impacts.  Participants apply the tools of plans, practices, and policies that help them achieve clean water goals for protection and restoration while providing for community growth.

Our bi-monthly Board meetings and annual meeting are held in conjunction with local Leagues throughout our watershed. Here’s a photo from our adventure at the Headwaters in Northern Minnesota last Fall. Each meeting features an educational event and is open to all; invitations go out through our monthly newsletter. These meetings move throughout the watershed and cover a wide range of topics. Join us when we’re in your area - it’s a good way to get to know LWV UMRR and for us to get to know you!

Last May, our Annual Meeting was held here in La Crosse Last May, our Annual Meeting was held here in La Crosse. We had excellent talks here by Mayor Kabat, who talked about what cities can – and ARE – doing to protect and improve water quality in the Mississippi.

Also, talks by Kim Wright of Midwest Environmental Advocates and Mark Borchardt from the USDA Laboratory for Infectious Disease and the Environment highlighted the severe concerns with Wisconsin’s precious groundwater resources – you can view videos of these talks on our website.

Our website features a blog where issues are explored, with links for more information, It’s a good place to learn – take a look! You can find blog posts on regional issues, videos and more at www.lwvumrr.org (All the links and addresses are in the brochure.)

Facebook – follow us on Facebook, see water quality posts from around the watershed - find us at @LWVUMRRILO

Joint projects – LWV UMRR actively partners with organizations to work on issues, including Rotary, One Mississippi and the Land Stewardship Project. This includes taking action on Issues – LWV UMRR works on water quality issues with local Leagues, in our four member states and nationally, and with partner organizations.

Water is an issue that unites us – we hope that you will join with LWV Upper Mississippi River Region in our work.