August is National Water Quality Month, and the perfect time to share multiple upcoming opportunities for you to get out and make a difference for local water quality in the rivers and streams throughout our region!
It’s Our Fox River Day
Local organizations are coming together once again to clean up litter along the Fox River for It’s Our Fox River Day on September 19th. It’s Our Fox River Day is an annual event coordinated by Friends of the Fox River on the third Saturday of September, and is now celebrated by multiple municipalities and counties. On this day, river cleanups and community celebrations will happen in towns along the Fox River from Waukesha, Wisconsin to Ottawa, Illinois.
The Conservation Foundation will be hosting cleanups alongside partners in St. Charles, Oswego, and Yorkville on It’s Our Fox River Day to promote river-wide community action. All cleanup events will be from 9:00 – 11:00am on Saturday, September 19, 2026:
- St. Charles’ cleanup will start at Ferson Creek Park (off State Route 31 in St. Charles, IL 60175) in partnership with the River Corridor Foundation of St. Charles and St. Charles Park District. Register here for the St. Charles Cleanup.
- Oswego’s cleanup will begin at multiple locations near the downtown area (near 65 N S Harrison St, Oswego, IL 60543) in partnership with the Village of Oswego and Oswegoland Park District. Register here for the Oswego Cleanup.
- Yorkville’s cleanup will start at Riverfront Park (201 E. Hydraulic St., Yorkville, IL 60560) in partnership with the Kendall County Outdoor Education Center and Yorkville Parks & Recreation. Register here for the Yorkville Cleanup.
Last year, 250 volunteers supported these three cleanup events, resulting in a cleaner Fox River and widespread community action. Be part of the fun and the positive impact this year!
Winter Chloride Watchers
Often when we think of winter, cozy scenes of staying in and snuggling up come to mind. Unless you are one our 170 Winter Chloride Watchers! This hardy bunch is known to trade their warmest blanket for a coat, hat, and gloves and leave their snug abodes to trek out to a chilly local river, stream, or pond, all in the name of combatting chloride pollution in our waterways.
Are you passionate about the health of our local waterways? Winter Chloride Watchers invites you to be part of a unique program that’s all about protecting the water in our streams! By collecting water samples and gathering important data, you’ll help inform future water protection efforts.
Interested in joining Winter Chloride Watchers? Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Attend a chloride monitoring training class. Trainings will begin this fall so watch your email inbox and our social media channels.
- Commit to monitoring a sampling site at a local waterway of your choosing monthly from November through May. If you would like to monitor more than once a month, notify the staff supervisor to receive the correct number of test strips.
- Complete site registration forms.
- Collect and report your monthly sample results using the Water Rangers app or website.
You can learn more about becoming a Winter Chloride Watcher and what it entails here.
This past winter, from November to March, Winter Chloride Watchers volunteers collected and reported data from 1,384 chloride samples at 234 different sites.