Illinois RiverWatch Celebrates 30th Anniversary

A day of activities, exhibits, and auctions honors dedicated volunteers tracking Illinois rivers since 1995.

Jan Dona

Sep 2, 2025 4:18 PM

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EAST ALTON – Illinois RiverWatch invites members of the public to join volunteers, partners and supporters in celebrating their 30th anniversary at Kankakee River State Park from 10:30 a.m.–4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20.

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The Celebration’s exhibitors will include the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Environmental Education Association of Illinois and many more.

There will be a silent auction, featuring barred owl boxes, photography and passes to The Morton Arboretum, as well as several nature and family-oriented activities.

Illinois RiverWatch is a statewide community science program that trains volunteers to collect water-quality data on their local streams and educate the community to be good stewards of Illinois rivers.

Originally started in 1995, RiverWatch volunteers have been collecting data for 30 years. This event will celebrate those volunteers who have worked with the program for decades.

RiverWatch Director and Stream Ecologist Danelle Haake credits the volunteers for RiverWatch’s success.

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“We appreciate the hard work of our volunteers and partners,” she said. “We hope they will come out to enjoy this celebration with us.”

The registration fee for the event is $15 and includes a special edition 30th Anniversary Celebration t-shirt, designed by RiverWatch volunteer, Lorena Robles.

For more information, contact Haake at riverwatch@lc.edu or (618) 468-2784.

RiverWatch is a program of the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center.

National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC?)

Founded in 2002 as a collaborative partnership between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Lewis and Clark Community College, NGRREC is dedicated to the study of great river systems and the communities that use them. The center aspires to be a leader in scholarly research, education, and outreach related to the interconnectedness of large rivers, their floodplains, watersheds, and their associated communities. To learn more about NGRREC, visit www.ngrrec.org.

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