Rivers shape our communities long before they reach our taps. In Minnesota, the Mississippi River is more than a landmark or a line on a map: it is a shared source of drinking water, a living ecosystem, and a place where culture, history, and stewardship meet.
During Safe Drinking Water Week, Freshwater is proud to uplift Sacred Water Shared Future, a year‑long, region‑wide campaign inviting people to reignite their relationship with the Mississippi River and reflect on what it means to care for the water we all share.
A century of progress worth celebrating
Due to rapid population growth and industrialization in the Twin Cities, a water quality study in 1926 identified severe pollution and found only three fish living in 42 miles of the Mississippi River from the Twin Cities to Red Wing, Minnesota. The results confirmed what scientists and residents already suspected: the Mississippi was effectively dead.
Today, the Mississippi tells a very different story. Thanks to decades of public investment, environmental protections, and community action, the river once again supports ecosystems, recreation, and drinking water supplies for several major Minnesota cities. Sacred Water Shared Future was created to honor that progress and to remind us that this turnaround did not happen by accident. It happened because people chose to act together.
A campaign rooted in shared responsibility
Sacred Water Shared Future is intentionally designed as a community invitation, not a one‑time event. Over the course of the year, organizations, artists, educators, and residents across the region are coming together to celebrate the river through public gatherings, storytelling, art, and learning.
The goal is simple, but powerful: to help people reconnect with the Mississippi as sacred water, a source of life that deserves care, respect, and stewardship. For Freshwater, this work reflects a long‑held belief that when people feel personally connected to water, they are more likely to protect it.
Why this matters for safe drinking water
Safe Drinking Water Week is a reminder that clean water at the tap depends on healthy waters upstream. Across Minnesota, about one in four residents receives drinking water from public surface water systems, including rivers like the Mississippi. Communities such as Minneapolis and St. Cloud rely entirely on the Mississippi River for their drinking water, while others depend on connected rivers, lakes, and aquifers throughout the river’s watershed.
Protecting drinking water does not start at the treatment plant, it starts with caring for the river itself. Sacred Water Shared Future helps make that connection visible, showing how river health, environmental protection, and public health are deeply intertwined.
Honoring progress while acknowledging what comes next
While Sacred Water Shared Future celebrates how far we’ve come, it is also clear‑eyed about the work ahead. Today’s challenges look different than they did a century ago. Pollution is often less visible, but no less serious. Emerging concerns like chloride from road salt, PFAS, and other widespread contaminants require new approaches, sustained collaboration, and continued public engagement.
This campaign creates space not only to celebrate success, but to ask essential questions: how do we carry forward a legacy of stewardship? And how do we protect the Mississippi for the next hundred years?
A regional collaboration with shared purpose
One of the defining strengths of Sacred Water Shared Future is how it brings people together across sectors and geographies. The campaign is led by a broad network of partners – environmental organizations, public agencies, artists, educators, and community groups – working collectively to protect and celebrate the Mississippi River.
Freshwater is honored to be part of this regional collaboration, helping connect science, stewardship, and community engagement around a shared purpose: a healthy river that continues to sustain ecosystems, communities, and economies.
An invitation to reconnect
Sacred Water Shared Future is ultimately about participation. Whether attending one of the many community events, learning more about the river’s history, or simply spending time along its banks, the campaign invites everyone to experience the Mississippi not just as infrastructure or scenery but as a shared responsibility and shared gift. Explore ways to get involved in the Sacred Water Shared Future campaign on their website. During Safe Drinking Water Week, that invitation feels especially timely, as the future of safe drinking water depends on the choices we make together.
Supporting the work that protects our water
Efforts like Sacred Water Shared Future are made possible by people who believe in protecting water through connection, collaboration, and care. Support from individuals helps Freshwater continue bringing partners and communities together around shared waters, advancing both safe drinking water and long‑term stewardship for Minnesota’s lakes, rivers, streams, and aquifers. If this work resonates with you, consider supporting Freshwater with a donation to help sustain these collective efforts today and into the future.
Learn more about Sacred Water Shared Future’s leadership and partners
The campaign’s leadership team is made up of representatives from the following organizations:
- Capitol Region Watershed District
- Freshwater
- Metropolitan Council Environmental Services
- Mississippi Park Connection
- Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
- One Mississippi
- U.S. National Park Service
In addition, many other organizations are actively participating as partners and supporters of Sacred Water Shared Future. See the full list of partners here.
Please reach out to Chyann Mosey at cmosey@freshwater.org if you have any questions or would like to collaborate in support of this project.