The Northeast-Midwest Institute launched the Upper Mississippi River Basin Program in 1995 to advance basin-wide sustainable development goals. The mission of the program is to promote policies that advance restoration of the Upper Mississippi River and its watershed through education of policy makers in Washington and the region. The Institute analyzes and distributes information on Upper Mississippi River management issues, and tracks related appropriations and legislation.

The Upper Mississippi River is a defining feature of the Midwest both environmentally and economically. With a watershed spanning almost half of the United States, the Mississippi is a multiple-use river where commercial navigation, water supply, and recreational demands must be managed to protect the region’s diverse and valuable environmental assets. Protecting the river and its tributaries is vital to the overall heath of the communities in the region, where 30 million residents rely on the Mississippi for drinking water.

The Institute works closely with the Upper Mississippi River Basin Task Force, which was formed in 1997 to disseminate information and coordinate legislative efforts on areas of agreement for the benefit of the Upper Mississippi River.

Under a grant from the McKnight Foundation the Institute utilizes the tools of bipartisan listening, information gathering, analysis and sharing at our disposal to help craft collaborative solutions to the vexing issues facing people throughout the Mississippi River Basin. Together with other River Basin partners we help give people and organizations the tools to achieve econimic and environmental sustainability within the River Basin: tools such as knowledge, funding, innovative processes and government coordination. The Institute's strategy is one of being a centralized clearinghouse of information and bipartisan policy analysis regarding the Mississippi River Basin and its environmental and economic sustainability  - not simply moving information for information's sake, but analyzing the institutional, scientific, political and economic landscape, while looking to overcome barriers by facilitating opportunities for education, mak ing resources more readily available, and bringing people together in settings conducive to listening and cooperation. It is within such settings that we have seen social capital increase, common interests emerge and people work from a perspective of collaborative, interest-based problem-solving.

River Basin News and Updates

Follow the latest news relating to the Mississippi River Basin through the following electronic media outlets.

• Northeast-Midwest Institute Mississippi River Basin Blog - People visit the Northeast-Midwest Institute's Mississippi River Basin Blog more than 2,500 times each month.  The blog contains musings, science, facts and opinions about the River region, its people and natural resources, and their nexus to the Washington, DC legislative and policy scene.
• Twitter Feed (@NEMWIUpperMiss) - The 950-plus people and organizations that have been following our “@NEMWIUpperMiss” Twitter feed have had access to more than 10,000 updates since being launched in 2009.
• Northeast-Midwest Institute Mississippi River Basin News Facebook Page - Our Facebook page is updated regularly and includes more than 600 articles that provide more in-depth coverage of key issues, including some of the issues introduced in our Twitter feed.
• Google+ - Our recently-launched Google+ site is a companion page to our other social media outlets, reaching a growing audience of people and organizations who use that social internet realm.
• Flickr (photo) Page - Photographs that we have taken at meetings in Washington, DC and from around the River region appear on our Flickr page.
• Finally, our weekly “Mississippi River Basin Water Resource News for the Week” and a monthly River Basin Update reach over 500 policy makers by direct e-mail and other stakeholders in Washington, DC and across the country through our Blog (contact Mark Gorman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to be added to the newletter email distribution lists).