"Water Trail Janitors" Keep Rivers Clean

May 7, 2008 | Blue Trails

Jamie Mierau
Director, River Protection

A new program called Illinois Water TrailKeepers is now providing stewardship of local water trails. TrailKeepers, a joint project of Illinois Paddling Council and Openlands, is creating a corps of stewards for designated water trails in Illinois. Mirroring other groups which turn their passion for the outdoors into hands-on care for it, Openlands is sponsoring “Reach Stewards,” who will adopt a section of a water trail much like the successful Adopt-A-Highway programs that help take care of roadways throughout the nation. 

Monitoring and reporting conditions, including any log jams or other obstacles to recreation along it, the Reach Stewards will be the eyes and ears of the agencies entrusted with the management of our waterways. Often, they will be the helping hands as well. 

The initial program will include seven waterways in nine counties, totaling 350 miles of rivers, including the Fox, Kishwaukee, and DuPage rivers. Instream maintenance teams will literally be “water trail janitors” who will maintain water trails on smaller streams by clearing obstructions and hazards in a safe and environmentally sensitive way. 

This is an exciting program that I hope will be replicated in other states and regions. 

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