The Pawnee River is a river located in Pawnee, Indiana. Leslie Knope wants to get the river cleaned up as part of one of her community projects. She goes to Washington, D.C. in "Ms. Knope Goes to Washington" in order to put in her application for a federal grant proposal. However, Washington doesn't move at the kind of pace that Leslie wishes it would. When she gets back from her trip, she announces to reporters that every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., she'll be at the Pawnee River, cleaning it up, with or without help.