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River
Currents Newsletter - March 2009 |
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The
Mississippi River Needs a Summit of its Own
This appears to be the era of Summits. Not
summits as in mountain tops. Rather, this is
the era to get all the leaders in a room to
discuss monumental issues and try to come up
with a plan. In October it was the Housing
Summit. In March, it's the Health Care
Summit. Could there be a Mississippi River
summit in 2010?
America's Waterway will hold a Mississippi
River summit of sorts. Only it won't be held
in Washington and it won't require people to
travel long distances.
The
National Dialogue for the Future of
America's Waterway will seek the input of
the people and organizations with the
biggest stake in the River, the Mississippi
River communities. We'll do this using
time-tested facilitation techniques enhanced
through the use of the latest, most flexible
electronic technology. In today's world of
Internet connectedness, we can finally apply
communication technologies to address a
long-recognized problem for our country's
major river - the lack of unified approaches
addressing the critical issues of the
Mississippi River.
To do this, America's Waterway plans to
partner with
AmericaSpeaks, the premier
producer of large-scale grass roots policy
discussions and community agenda setting. We
also plan to tap 10 communities directly
through their community foundations and
enable River-wide input via
telecommunication and social networking.
It's time to exploit the power of the
Internet to create a unified constituency
for the Mississippi River.
Why is it time? The sentiment for unified
approaches, mostly in the area of water
quality and ecosystems, has been building
slowly but steadily in recent years. In
2007, the
National Research Council, in a
report on Mississippi River water quality,
called on the Environmental Protection
Agency to take a leadership role in
coordinating and overseeing state activities
along the Mississippi. "State resources
devoted to these programs vary widely, and
there is no single program that oversees the
entire River, making it an 'orphan' in terms
of monitoring and assessment…" the report
stated. The EPA seemed to agree last fall at
a meeting of the Upper Mississippi River
Basin Association when an assistant
administrator was quoted as stating, "..that
the Mississippi River should be acknowledged
as one of the country's important aquatic
systems, just as the Great Lakes and
Chesapeake Bay [ ] are." Then, last
December, the National Research Council, in
a second River report, called for a Nutrient
Control Implementation Initiative for the
whole Mississippi.
Unified approaches aren't confined to water
quality. Community development efforts and
cultural heritage issues along the River
could stand to be approached from a
whole-River perspective, too. What the
people at the
Saint Paul Riverfront
Corporation are doing on behalf of community
development should be shared and optimized
with broader application to more Mississippi
River communities. And the work of the
National Mississippi River Museum and
Aquarium can strengthen and enhance the
vital work of cultural heritage venues along
the River as well.
The key is tapping the Internet and all the
social networking tools at our disposal to
ensure River community input into
whole-River approaches. Until now, forming a
constituency on behalf of the Mississippi
River has been logistically and politically
overwhelming. But with the resources and
expertise of AmericaSpeaks and the
development of a dedicated Web site with a
variety of social networking tools - along
with the mindset to apply the tools on
behalf of public policy - a unified
Mississippi River constituency is possible.
If you, too, agree that the time is right
for a unified Mississippi constituency to
start acknowledging what it has in common
and acting on those concerns, please let us
know. Go to our Web site and post a comment
or, better yet, email us and tell us what
you think should be included in a first
Mississippi River summit. As we move
forward, we'll need your insight and
support. The time is now - we look forward
to hearing from you.
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Save the Date |
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What: |
The
Potential of Civic
Engagement for the
Mississippi River; A
presentation and
discussion with
America's Waterway
and AmericaSpeaks
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Where: |
The
10th Annual
River
Rally, Baltimore, MD
Hyatt Hotel |
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When: |
5:00
PM, Saturday May 30 |
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Why: |
To
explore what's
involved in building
an on-line community
for a natural
resource like a
River and the ways
in which technology
can build active
citizen
participation in
public decision
making. |
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Who: |
America's Waterway,
the organization and
Web site
engaging the
Mississippi River
community so
comprehensive,
whole-River
approaches to its
character, condition
and future can
develop. |
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Check
this out:
Last Fall Karl
Palazzolo of St.
Louis completed the
journey from the
Mississippi River
headwaters to St.
Cloud, Minnesota.
His video blog is at
www.seasicktours.com.
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For more information please email:
www.americaswaterway.org |
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