Need a little good news to close out your week? Here are four examples of people like you working together and successfully making a difference.

Michael over at the Water Wired blog has a great piece about the Owens River, of Cadillac Desert fame, once again flowing with clean water and teeming with wildlife.

A bunch of resource agencies and environmental groups, including a former employer of mine, announced a deal to demolish a dam on Maine’s Presumscott River. Future generations will enjoy a healthy river and the company will save money over the cost of putting in a fish ladder. Congrats to all on this fine work!

Montana State University in Bozeman produces a terrific video blog called “TERRA: The Nature of Our World.” I’m really jealous of their beautiful video and graphic design. Their new episode is called “Fish ands Cows” and profiles a Montana ranching community taking responsible steps to conserve wildlife along the Big Hole River, including the only surviving population of grayling in the lower 48 states. I sure wish more farmers felt this way.

Finally, Duane with the Friends of Accotink Creek reports that my home state of Virginia was among the top states participating in the International Coastal Cleanup. Virginia volunteers “picked up 151,432 pounds of litter, and collected very valuable data too!” Good job, Virginians. Now that you’ve made an emotional investment in clean and attractive beaches for your family to enjoy, why not adopt some responsible habits to reduce pollution and waste?

More Water Words That Work next week!