Connecting people, land & water across 31 states.
America’s Watershed Initiative (AWI) is a collaboration working with hundreds of business, government, academic, and civic organizations to find solutions for the challenges facing the Mississippi River and the more than 250 rivers that flow into it. Learn MoreJoin AWI for our next webinar:
Floodplain Restoration along a Midwestern Big River: The Nature Conservancy’s Illinois River Program
February 2026
In this webinar, Randy Smith will talk about TNC’s Illinois River Program. The Illinois River was historically one of the most productive streams in North America. A variety of anthropogenic changes have degraded the system and fundamentally impacted the River and its floodplain. TNC’s restoration of the 1,000-acre Spunky Bottoms Preserve and nearly 7,000-acre Emiquon Preserve provide demonstration sites for floodplains that were converted to agricultural drainage and levee districts, back to functional floodplain wetlands and reconnected to the Illinois River with novel infrastructure. The Illinois River valley retains substantial ecological capacity, TNC, with partners, hopes to leverage success at these preserves to increase wetland habitat quality and quantity throughout this system.
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
12:00 pm to 12:30 pm CT
March 2026
New Mississippi River Basin Drought and Water Dashboard
Molly Woloszyn
To improve access and usability of drought and water information across the Mississippi River Basin, NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) worked with partners across the region to build a Mississippi River Basin Drought and Water Dashboard. This online platform, hosted on the U.S. Drought Portal (http://drought.gov), provides a suite of curated and customized drought information, tools, and data to support communications and decision-making across the Mississippi River Basin. This includes real-time maps with easy to understand and downloadable graphics that span historical, current, and future conditions. The Dashboard also provides an educational overview of drought and water management, as well as drought impacts, in the Lower Mississippi River Basin.
Thursday, March 12, 2026
12:00 pm to 12:30 pm CT
States within the Watershed
Rivers within the Watershed
Largest Watershed in the World
The Mississippi River Watershed is vast, covering almost half of the continental United States. The river system provides $50 billion in agricultural products, flood mitigation and resilience, habitats for diverse and essential living resources, public land access and recreation.
Collaboration is necessary between private and public partners across the river system to enact sustainable solutions.
2020 Mississippi River Watershed Report Card
Only by working together—coordinated, focused and for the long term—will we make meaningful progress to raise the grades for America’s Watershed, for our future, and for our children’s future.
Our heartland rivers comprise America’s Watershed – a vital river system that provides drinking water for over 20 million Americans across 31 states, navigation of goods and products, supports key industries across the country and is an economic engine for America.
The Mississippi River Watershed Report Card grades the state of the watershed, identifying critical areas for improvement and many opportunities to improve our economy and secure our water supplies.
In 2020, the Mississippi River Watershed received a grade of C-.
Working together, we can find solutions for improving water quality and quantity, safety, and the health of America’s Watershed.
Building Partnership
AWI has been leading the co-creation of the Mississippi River Watershed Partnership–a vehicle to generate broad support, foster dialogue, and elevate the work of our partners.