Waupun, WI – On Saturday, September 20th from 8 am to 10 am, the City of Waupun, Rock River Stormwater Group, Protect Wisconsin Waterways, and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students will host a river clean-up event in conjunction with waterway clean-up efforts across the Rock River watershed. The local waterway clean-up event also coincides with the start of the second annual statewide Wisconsin Stormwater Week and National Clean Up Day. The City of Waupun clean-up will start at Shaler Park. Volunteers are encouraged to sign up online and meet at this location at 8 am on Saturday, September 20th.
Community members are invited to join the clean-up efforts to pick up trash and help revitalize the Rock River in Waupun. Community members or groups interested in volunteering for the clean-up event can learn more details and register online at Protect Wisconsin Waterways Clean Up. Volunteers who pre-register for the event before August 16th will receive a free t-shirt in recognition of their clean-up efforts.
The September 20th event will be the seventh annual clean-up organized by the Rock River Stormwater Group and marketing students at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as part of its Protect Wisconsin Waterways campaign. Last year’s clean-up events included over 290 volunteers across multiple communities within the Rock River watershed. This year’s clean-up events will take place in similar locations spanning from Beloit to Monroe, including Beloit (two locations), Janesville, Milton, Fort Atkinson, Whitewater, Beaver Dam, Waupun, and Monroe. In the past, volunteers have removed basic trash like plastic bottles to the more exotic – rubber tires, a boot, TV, and a parks and recreation barrier from area waterways. The September 20th, 2025 clean-up events will serve as a local kickoff to Wisconsin Stormwater Week, a statewide initiative focused on raising awareness about stormwater runoff and how Wisconsin residents can make a difference to reduce the environmental toll of stormwater runoff pollution.
About The Rock River Stormwater Group: The Rock River Stormwater Group includes fifteen municipalities within the Rock River Basin stretching from Waupun, WI to Beloit, WI along with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the City of Monroe. The group launched the Protect Wisconsin Waterways campaign in January 2017 with help from Creative Marketing Unlimited, a student-run marketing consulting group affiliated with the UW-Whitewater American Marketing Association chapter. The Protect Wisconsin Waterways campaign is part of the Rock River Stormwater Group’s public outreach efforts to educate the public and improve stormwater practices in the Rock River watershed. Wisconsin’s communities are interconnected through the waterways, so what happens in Waupun on the Rock River ends up affecting each municipality down the river. Recognizing this, the Rock River Stormwater Group advocated that community members pay attention to how their day-to-day activities such as cleaning up pet waste, keeping grass clippings out of the street, and minimizing fertilizers and salt use can make a difference in our area waterways. UW-Whitewater students representing Protect Wisconsin Waterways have attended community events to raise awareness and will use the clean-up events on September 20th to kick off the school year and Wisconsin Stormwater Week while making a difference.
The Rock River is a 284-mile river that encompasses many communities and has become a staple of Wisconsin’s waterway system. The September 20th event is an important group effort to revitalize the Rock River and will help leave a positive footprint on our environment. Protect Wisconsin Waterways will be partnering with the Wisconsin Stormwater Collaborative, a group of 200+ stormwater collaboratives, municipalities, and nonprofits from across the state, to promote the second annual Wisconsin Stormwater Week. The City of Waupun as part of its involvement in the Rock River Stormwater Group identified the clean-up event as the perfect way to combine common interests in protecting Wisconsin’s natural resources that we value so much.
For more information on the event, visit https://protectwiwaterways.org/
About Stormwater Runoff Pollution: Stormwater runoff impacts our rivers, lakes, and drinking water. With every rain event, pollutants like fertilizers, soil, pet waste, oil, leaves, and other organic material get washed into our surface waters. These pollutants cause excessive weed and algae growth in our waters, harmful algae blooms, sedimentation, and many other problems.
For Additional Information Contact:
Jeff Daane
City of Waupun
920-324-7918
Olivia Nanni
Protect Wisconsin Waterways Account Executive
Creative Marketing Unlimited
UW-Whitewater Student
815-543-6062
Dr. Andy Dahl
Chair of Marketing Department
Faculty Advisor, Creative Marketing Unlimited
UW-Whitewater
262-472-6950
