White River Report Card

By assessing and grading the health of the White River and its surrounding landscape and tributaries, we hope to inspire change that improves and protects our watershed.

Report Card Launch & Canoe Race

The White River Report Card Launch and Canoe Race is a celebration of the completion of the White River Report Card: an assessment and communication tool created to measure community progress, align partners and activities, and inspire change that improves our river and its watershed and protects our economy and way of life. To celebrate this tremendous accomplishment, we will be hosting two canoe races that precede with a discussion about the Report Card’s findings and next steps for improvement. If you’re interested in the Report Card Launch and findings presentation but not the canoe race, you can attend the event for free and do not need to register, see the below Attend the Launch Event Only.

The canoe races are not sprint races, they are distance races. The White River Canoe Company race is 6 miles, while the Canoe Country race is 7  miles. Each race will take 1.5 to 2.5 hours to complete depending on how fast you paddle. Each canoe will be timed individually to determine results. Groups of 10 canoes will be sent out at a time, grouped by experience to allow for an efficient and fun race!

The first event will take place at White River Canoe Company in Noblesville on June 23rd beginning at 8:30 am. The second event will take place at Morrow’s Meadow Park in Yorktown on June 30th at beginning 8:30 am. The registration fee is $80 per team (two-person teams) and it will cover canoe rental, food and refreshments, entertainment, and will also support the efforts of the White River Alliance. No need to bring your own canoe as all participants will be required to use canoes provided by White River Canoe Company or Canoe Country. Awards will be given out to the top 3 finishers of the male teams, female teams, and co-ed teams. Race in a themed outfit or costume with your canoe partner and you may be the winner of the team spirit award! After you register you will receive more details about locations, race route, pre and post-event activities, the White River Report Card, and other event information.

We do have rain dates scheduled for these events. The rain date for the June 23 White River Canoe Company event is July 7 and for the June 30 Canoe Country event is July 14.

Registration opens April 14 and closes June 16.

Canoe Race Registration

Attend the Launch Event Only

Are you interested in finding out the watershed grades from the White River Report Card findings, but don’t want to suit up for the canoe race? You can attend either event for free and do not need to register for the canoe race. Please see the details below for each event. The presentation at each event will be the same, but you are welcome to attend both events.

Friday, June 23rd at Noblesville
Presentations will begin promptly at 9:30 am, so we ask that you arrive by 9 am. Visual information about the Report Card will be on display.
Parking: White River Canoe Company, Rusty Oar Dropoff
20961 SR37 North, Noblesville, IN 46060
Food and refreshments will be available
Register to attend the June 23 Launch
JUNE 23 LAUNCH

Friday, June 30th at Yorktown
Presentations will begin promptly at 9:30 am, so we ask that you arrive by 9 am. Visual information about the Report Card will be on display.
Parking: Morrow’s Meadow
1901 S Tiger Dr, Yorktown, IN 47396
Food and refreshments will be available
Register to attend the June 30 Launch
JUNE 30 LAUNCH

The White River Report Card

Just how healthy is the White River Watershed? How does the health of the White River around my community compare to that of a downstream or upstream community? What can be done to improve the health of the river and its surrounding landscape and tributaries? Those are all questions that we hope to answer with the White River Report Card.

Similar to the report cards of our youth, the White River Report Card will be an assessment and communication tool created to help us understand how the White River, and its relationship with the communities along it, are doing. The report card is being developed by bringing together community, business, industry, political, agricultural, conservation, and utility stakeholders to assess the watershed. The report card will be used to communicate community progress, align partners and activities, and inspire change that improves our river and its watershed and protects our economy and way of life.

The White River Report Card is a first for the White River, however, the process is being modeled after and developed with the help of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), which has led numerous report card initiatives for waterways around the world. The development of the report card follows a proven 5-step process to identify values, threats, and indicators that affect the river’s health and vitality. The process is expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete.

Three broad categories, each with a set of measurable indicators, will be used in the report card to grade the watershed.

• Land – including agriculture, development, and natural habitat
• Water – including the quality of water, how much is available, and how it’s managed
• Community – including quality of life, economic activity, access and activation of the river by people

To gather information about the river, watershed, and communities, a series of stakeholder workshops were held in the spring of 2022 to identify core values and key threats, as well as the indicators that could be used to assess those values and threats. Work is now underway via topic-focused working groups to select measurements for the indicators, identify data sources, and assign thresholds for the grades.

For more about the White River Report Card, its partners, development, and how to get involved, click on the Learn More button below.

Learn More