Please Fill Out a Stream Use Survey

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wants to know how the rivers and streams in Missouri are being used. To this end, they have put a survey on-line:

"The Department of Natural Resources knows Missourians enjoy and appreciate their rivers, streams and lakes. If you'd like to let us know how you use your favorite Missouri stream or river for recreation, please take a few moments to complete our online stream use survey. If you use more than one stream, you may submit separate surveys for each water."

If you have visited the River des Peres, its triburaties, or any other streams in the area, please visit their site and fill out a survey. We need to let the DNR know that we not only value our urban rivers, but we actually use them as well!!

New Committees Formed to Further RdPWC's Mission

The River des Peres Watershed Coalition has begun to act on the ideas that our members have told us they are most interested in. In order to make progress on these items, we have started several new committees:

• Advocacy Committee
• Invasive Species Removal Committee
• Partner Database Committee
• Policies and Procedures Committee
• Rain Gardens and Rain Barrels Committee
• Signage Committee
• Website Committee

If you are interested in joining any of these committees, or are interested in further details on what these groups are doing, please e-mail riverdesperes@gmail.com.

Planning Forum Series Concluded

The final meeting in series of four Community Planning Forums was held on May 27, 2008. At this meeting, we voted to revise our bylaws, we elected new officers, and we began to make progress on our new focus areas. A summary of this meeting is now available.

Congratulations to the new members of the Executive Committee: Chairperson Danelle Haake, Vice Chairperson Suzanne Loui, Secretary Vince Currao, Treasurer Susan Mintz, and Membership Coordinator Dan Sherburne.

River des Peres in the News

Recently, the River des Peres Watershed Coalition has been in the news quite a bit. Danelle Haake, the current Chairperson of the Coalition, was interviewed the morning of April 22 by Doug McElvein of the KMOX morning show "Total Information" (am 1120). The audio of the interview may be downloaded from the KMOX website.

Cindy Duhigg, Danelle Haake, and Howard Webb of the Coalition were interviewed and photographed by Don Corrigan and Diana Linsley of the Times for their April 18, 2008 edition. Those articles and images may be found by visiting the Webster-Kirkwood Times and South County Times (note: different images are available for the two different articles).

The Coalition has also found its way into the Journal on February 19. The article included interviews and photos of Danelle Haake and Dan Sherburne by Shawn Clubb. The article was printed in the West County Journal, the Kirkwood-Webster Journal, the South County Journal, and the South Side Journal.

Coalition Presents at EPA Conference

The River des Peres Watershed Coalition presented a poster display and several brochures at the 2008 EPA Region 7 Wetlands and Watersheds Conference the week of April 7-11, 2008. The poster, entitled "Planning a Watershed-Wide Volunteer Water Quality Event" was on display throughout the week and generated interest from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency staff, several watershed coordinators, and other professionals at the conference.

Annual Spring Clean-Up on March 29 Was a Great Success

One of the sites that the River des Peres Watershed Coalition has adopted, the reach of the River des Peres near the intersection of Mona and Groby, was the site of our Annual Spring Stream Clean-Up. About 25 participants met at the river to pick up litter from the stream and to remove bush honeysuckle from the banks.

Thanks to all of our volunteers who helped up pull about 7 cubic yards of trash (including three shopping carts), two tires, and lots of honeysuckle from the River des Peres!.

August 16, 2008 - Stream Clean-Up and Planting - 9 am to noon at Deer Creek Park - This event is a coordinated effort of Webster University staff, the AmeriCorps Stream Team, and the River des Peres Watershed Coalition.

August 23 and 24, 2008 - Race for the Rivers This festival and Missouri River race is sponsored by The Greenway Network.

September 12 and 13, 2008 - Confluence Clean-up and Learning Festival at Columbia Bottoms - sponsored by Missouri River Relief.

September 17, 2008 - Steering Committee Meeting - 6:30 to 8 pm at The Green Center.

September 27, 2008 - Honeysuckle Hack in Ruth Park Woods - 9 am to noon.

October 4, 2008 - 3rd Annual River des Peres Watershed-Wide Monitoring Event. Join us at our annual monitoring event that is part of World Water Monitoring Day. If you plan to attend, please let us know!

October 19, 2008 - Honeysuckle Hack and Grapevine Grab at Mona Terrace - 9 am to noon.

November 8, 2008 - 9th Annual Fall Clean-Up - 9 am to noon at in the lower River des Peres at Lansdowne. We haven't tackled this area before, but the site is accessible by a ramp on the southwest end of the Lansdowne bridge, the area can be reached by public transportation (the Shrewsbury Metro Link stop as well as several bus lines), and there is plenty of parking at the Metro terminal.

November 19, 2008 - Steering Committee Meeting - 6:30 to 8 pm at The Green Center.

December 5-6, 2008 - Missouri Environmental Education Association (MEEA) Conference at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The RdP will be presenting at the meeting.