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05.29.2026
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 The Mississippi River has shaped our region for thousands of years. It supplies drinking water, supports wildlife, connects communities, and gives us places to paddle, fish, reflect, and explore. On June 2, we celebrate National Mississippi River Day, a growing annual tradition recognizing the River's importance to communities all along its 2,350-mile journey.
This year, the City of Minneapolis hased a National Mississippi River Day proclamation, while the City of Fridley will join the effort for the first time, recognizing the River's significance to our communities and region.
National Mississippi River Day is part of a broader effort led by One Mississippi to inspire people to connect with, enjoy, and protect the River. From June 1–15, organizations across the watershed will participate in River Days of Action, sharing opportunities to learn, explore, volunteer, and engage with the Mississippi.
Follow MWMO on social media throughout the campaign for river facts, stewardship tips, local events, paddling opportunities, and simple ways to deepen your connection to this remarkable waterway.
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Southside Community Health Services celebrated the grand opening of One Southside, a new health campus along a busy corridor in Minneapolis’ South Side Green Zone, on May 4. Supported in part by an MWMO grant, the project incorporates green stormwater infrastructure throughout the site, including a terraced water feature that captures and reuses rainwater from rooftops and other hard surfaces, native habitat landscaping, and other features designed to manage runoff while creating a healing outdoor environment. The clinic is now open, and the stormwater and landscape elements are in the final stages of construction.
The $22 million development transformed 1010 E. Lake St. — the site of a Dollar Store destroyed during the civil unrest of 2020 — into a community clinic and wellness center. Located in an area disproportionately impacted by pollution, adverse health conditions, and poverty, the project combines community health services with investments in environmental health and neighborhood revitalization.
As water moves through the site, it supports native plants, pollinator habitat, and a series of small waterfalls and gathering spaces designed for patients, staff, and neighbors. Underground stormwater storage and permeable surfaces help slow, store, and treat runoff before it reaches the Mississippi River. Together, these improvements are expected to prevent approximately 200 pounds of total suspended solids and 0.61 pounds of phosphorus from entering the river each year.
Once fully established, the landscape will demonstrate how water infrastructure can do more than manage runoff. Moving water, native plantings, habitat features, and community gathering spaces will create a peaceful oasis that supports both environmental health and community well-being.
 MWMO is excited to celebrate the grand opening of Ole Olson Park and the 26th Avenue Overlook trail connection. The project creates a long-awaited bike and pedestrian link beneath the BNSF railroad bridge, helping close a significant gap in Minneapolis' riverfront trail system while improving access between West River Road and the 26th Avenue North Overlook, which the MWMO also supported with a grant for habitat enhancements in 2019.
Visitors can also enjoy a new riverfront gathering space and trailside overlook featuring sweeping views of the Mississippi River and downtown Minneapolis.
Behind the scenes, MWMO grant funding helped remove contaminated soils left from historic industrial uses and restore more than two acres of native prairie habitat along the river corridor. The cleanup and regrading created a more gradual slope that improves sightlines and pedestrian access to the riverbank and gives park goers easier direct access to the river. The new, shallower slope has given us the opportunity to establish more than 2 acres of new native prairie, which will connect with a previous habitat restoration project currently maintained by Friends of the Mississippi River.
Together, these improvements help create a larger habitat corridor along the Mississippi River north of St. Anthony Falls, making the area better connected for both people and wildlife.
 Blue Thumb is launching Lawns to Legumes: Habitat at Home, a free, guided program that supports Minnesotans in creating, expanding, or maintaining pollinator-friendly spaces this summer and fall. Participants receive seasonal step-by-step guidance, access to webinars and resources, and opportunities to connect with a community across the state. Optional coaching is available as capacity allows.
This new approach is based on the highly successful Lawns to Legumes program, a collaborative state-funded effort administered by Blue Thumb and the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR). No grant required—just your interest and a bit of space to grow.
Sign up anytime to get started.
The MWMO has released its 2025 Monitoring Summary, which shares a summary of environmental observations and outcomes in the watershed for 2025. See the monitoring section of our website for details.
The Mississippi Watershed Management Organization invites eligible applicants to apply for Action, Planning and Community Grants by Thursday, June 18, 2026 for projects in the MWMO.
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Action Grants are a type of Stewardship Fund Grant designed for projects that are significant in scope and cost. Proposed projects should demonstrate that thorough planning for the proposed project has already taken place. Grants of up to $50,000 are available for implementation of proposed plans.
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Planning Grants are a type of Stewardship Fund Grant designed to assist organizations to plan and prepare documentation for a project that will be implemented in the near future. Planning Grants help fund the planning process for detailed projects that help improve water quality through construction, education, outreach, or other creative ways. Grants of up to $20,000 are available for creating plans.
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Community Grants are designed to help initiate new projects through direct community engagement and encouraging water and habitat stewardship. Grants of up to $5,000 are available for short-term or small-scale water quality projects.
The MWMO is particularly interested in supporting engagement or physical projects that will reach underserved populations (communities not previously involved in MWMO projects or communities representing marginalized and diverse cultural backgrounds) and projects located in environmentally sensitive areas as defined by the MWMO Watershed Management Plan or the MWMO Board of Commissioners. Projects with existing plans created through a previous MWMO Planning Grant are strongly encouraged to apply.
Matching funds may be required. Visit our website for full details and eligibility requirements.
Stewardship Fund Grants — Thursday, June 18, 2026, by 4:30 p.m
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UPCOMING EVENTS
📅 June 2, 2026 | 5–8 p.m.
📍 Kasota Ponds, St. Paul
Join the St. Anthony Park Community Council for an evening of hands-on habitat restoration at Kasota Ponds. Volunteers will help remove invasive buckthorn, making space for native plants and healthier wildlife habitat to thrive. No experience is necessary, and many hands make light work.
The project is supported by an MWMO grant, and organizers are hoping for a strong community turnout.
📅 June 11, 2026 | 6:30–8:30 p.m.
📍 Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
Step into an underwater world inspired by the Mississippi River and the life it supports.
Join artist Tara Fahey for an open house celebrating Rooted in Water, an immersive installation featuring lanterns, soft sculpture, and intricate paper-cut works. Drawing inspiration from the plants, animals, and ecosystems of urban watersheds, the exhibit explores themes of resilience, connection, and renewal through the lens of water.
Meet the artist, experience the exhibit, and explore how art can deepen our relationship with the river that sustains our communities.
More information about Rooted in Water will be posted soon. Visit the MWMO events calendar for updates.
📅 June 13, 2026 | 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
📍 Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
What does the Mississippi River mean to the people who live alongside it and shape it every day?
Join us for a special morning at the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization as we debut a newly commissioned poem by acclaimed writer and former councilmember Andrea Jenkins.
This original work reflects on the stretch of river that defines the MWMO watershed, exploring the relationship between the built environment and natural systems. Grounded in the themes of Sacred Water, Shared Future, the poem considers how we depend on the river, how we shape it, and what it takes to sustain it for generations to come.
The program will include remarks from MWMO leadership and partners, followed by a live performance of the poem.
Guests are invited to stay, enjoy light refreshments, and explore the building, grounds, and current exhibit.
📅 June 27, 2026 | 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
📍 Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
After a couple years away, Share the River has returned as one of the easiest ways to experience the Mississippi River.
No paddling experience or gear is required. Visitors can simply arrive, step into a canoe, and let experienced guides from Wilderness Inquiry take care of the rest.
Drop in anytime during the event, take a guided ride, and see the river from a perspective most people rarely experience.
While you’re here, explore the MWMO Stormwater Park and Learning Center, with light refreshments and hands-on activities that connect your time on the water to the bigger picture: how the river works, why it matters, and what it takes to protect it.
Family-friendly and beginner-friendly (participants must weigh at least 30 lbs. to fit provided life jackets).
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What if you could measure bird diversity without ever seeing a bird?
This spring, MWMO joined Sounds of Nature MN, a statewide research that leverages citizen science, passive acoustic monitoring, and a deep neural network to better understand bird populations across Minnesota.
Small recording devices called Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) are placed in natural areas and are programmed to record continuously around sunrise and sunset from May 15 to June 30. After the recording period, sound files will be analyzed and compared to a library of known species vocalizations to compare bird diversity and composition across the state and between public and private lands.
Within the MWMO watershed, recording units have been deployed along the Mississippi River gorge, in a forested area of Columbia Golf Course, and in a restored prairie at North Mississippi Regional Park.
The project collected more than 30,000 hours of audio from 124 sites in 2025. In 2026, that effort is expected to grow to more than 80,000 hours of recordings from approximately 310 sites statewide, helping researchers build a clearer picture of Minnesota's bird populations and habitat health.
You can view the 2025 preliminary results (prior to deploying devices in the MWMO watershed) by following the link below. https://soundsofnaturemn.shinyapps.io/sounds-of-nature-map/.
This project is made possible with support from the University of Minnesota and Minnesota’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF). Additional partners include the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Audubon Upper Mississippi River, and our citizen science volunteers and collaborators.
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