At last year’s national convention, attendees brainstormed about the League’s next "big idea." The starting point was a simple but important question: what do we want the League to be known for now? A common and familiar theme came out of these discussions: clean water. Specifically, monitoring more streams to ensure clean water for all Americans.

Together, our Clean Water Challenge is to monitor 100,000 more stream sites nationwide by 2022.

Our first step toward meeting this goal is to update our existing stream monitoring program and expand it to include new types of water monitoring activities. We asked chapter leaders – as well as members and supporters who have joined the Clean Water Challenge – about current stream monitoring efforts, future needs, and ways in which they can be involved in the Clean Water Challenge.

League staff are now hosting meetings, online webinars, and individual phone calls with League members and volunteers, which will allow us to move from "hunches" to factual information needed to revise and expand the Save Our Streams program. Listening sessions also give us the opportunity to uncover needs and resources we did not know about. E-mail sos@iwla.org to get involved.