Our History and Accomplishments

Following are just some of our selected accomplishments in the Great Lakes region:

Clean Water 

• Breaking new ground with civic leaders including the mayors and city council members to promote our green infrastructure solutions including green roofs and rain gardens and persuade Great Lakes cities to revise their codes and ordinances. 
• Helped secure a resolution from the Toledo city council recommending green infrastructure practices into their parking and landscaping codes.

Polluted stormwater runoff is a leading cause of pollution to Milwaukee’s rivers. American Rivers is a leader in providing solutions to urban water pollution, and we pride ourselves on the expertise we bring to cities to help them improve their stormwater programs and reduce pollution into their rivers. In partnership with the Milwaukee Municipal Sewerage District (MMSD), over the next three years, American Rivers hopes to help the city address its stormwater problems in a positive and proactive way through the use of green infrastructure. We are employing four strategies:

• Promoting the benefits of green infrastructure to Milwaukee homeowners, businesses and policymakers;
• Educating homeowners and businesses about how to install green infrastructure and providing needed technical support;
• Building and showcasing demonstration projects; and
• Changing local policies to provide incentives for green infrastructure practices throughout MMSD’s jurisdiction
  

Protecting Rivers

• Raised visibility about the threat of toxic pollution in Wisconsin's Kinnikinnic River in America's Most Endangered Rivers: 2007 edition, and helped put the river on the road to recovery.
• Played instrumental role in the passage of the Michigan Scenic Rivers Act, which at the time was the most comprehensive national river protection bill ever for a state east of the Rockies.