Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement of community-based advocates united for clean, healthy, and abundant water for all people and the planet. The organization preserves and protects water by connecting local Waterkeeper groups worldwide, ensuring they are as connected to each other as they are to their local waters and organizing the fight for clean water into a coordinated global movement. Started by blue-collar fishermen on New York’s Hudson River in 1966 when industrial polluters were destroying their way of life, their grassroots brand of environmental activism sparked the Hudson’s miraculous recovery and inspired Waterkeeper groups around the world. Today, Waterkeeper Alliance unites more than 300 groups on the front lines of the planetary environmental crisis, patrolling and protecting nearly six million square miles of rivers, lakes, and coastal waterways on six continents.
Why It Matters: Water is life, and clean water is a basic right for all living beings—yet protecting this right requires guardians who are fiercely local and globally connected, defending and enforcing just and equitable clean water laws in their own communities while drawing strength from a worldwide movement. By amplifying the voices of communities lacking political clout and fair representation, the Alliance uses its proven model to remedy environmental injustices, recognizing that those most affected by pollution often have the least power to stop it. Whether tracking down polluters on the water, enforcing laws in courtrooms, advocating in town meetings, or teaching in classrooms, Waterkeepers speak for the waters they defend—with collective strength and the backing of their local communities.
