Waterkeeper Alliance is a worldwide network of environmental organizations founded in 1999 that work to protect bodies of water around the United States and the world.[1] By December 2019, the group said it had grown to 350 members in 46 countries, with half the membership outside the U.S.; the alliance had added 200 groups in the last five years.[2]
In 1983, the founding Riverkeeper organization, founded by Robert H. Boyle, formed around the Hudson River in New York, in response to the untreated sewage and industrial water pollution that was degrading water quality in the river.[3] Today, Waterkeeper Alliance, based in Manhattan, unites all Waterkeeper organizations. The group helps to coordinate and cover issues affecting Waterkeepers that work to protect rivers, lakes, bays, sounds, and other water bodies around the world. In the United States, only 52 of the 180 groups cover watersheds west of the Mississippi River.[4]
In June 2019, the group announced a project with online travel website Culture Trip called "Waterkeeper Warriors." They named 20 activists who “represent the impact one person can make on an issue that affects us all."[5]
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States."
Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. is an American politician, environmental lawyer, and activist who promotes anti-vaccine misinformation and public health conspiracy theories. He is the chairman and founder of Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine advocacy group, and an independent candidate in the 2024 presidential election. A member of the Kennedy family, Kennedy is a son of U.S. attorney general and senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of U.S. president John F. Kennedy and senator Ted Kennedy.
Riverkeeper is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection of the Hudson River and its tributaries, as well as the watersheds that provide New York City with its drinking water. It started out as the Hudson River Fisherman's Association (HRFA) in 1966. In 1986, the group merged with the Hudson Riverkeeper Fund it established in 1983 and took on the name Riverkeeper. In 1999, the Waterkeeper Alliance was created as an umbrella organization to unite and support "keeper" organizations.
The Futaleufú River, located in northern Patagonia, is one of two rivers that cross the 5,308 kilometres (3,298 mi) Argentina–Chile border. Its headwaters can be found in the glacial snow melt of the UNESCO protected Los Alerces National Park in Argentina. The river gorge drops as low as 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) below the surrounding glaciated peaks. The name Futaleufú is an indigenous Mapuche word meaning "Big River". Locals refer to the valley as "un paisaje pintado por Dios" — a landscape painted by God.
In animal husbandry, a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is an intensive animal feeding operation (AFO) in which over 1,000 animal units are confined for over 45 days a year. An animal unit is the equivalent of 1,000 pounds of "live" animal weight. A thousand animal units equates to 700 dairy cows, 1,000 meat cows, 2,500 pigs weighing more than 55 pounds (25 kg), 10,000 pigs weighing under 55 pounds, 10,000 sheep, 55,000 turkeys, 125,000 chickens, or 82,000 egg laying hens or pullets.
The Pew Charitable Trusts is an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), founded in 1948.
The American Jewish Congress is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts.
Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK) -- formerly known as Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (UCR) -- is an environmental advocacy organization with 10,000 members dedicated solely to protecting and restoring the Chattahoochee River Basin. CRK was modeled after New York’s Hudson Riverkeeper and was the 11th licensed program in the international Waterkeeper Alliance. In 2012, the organization officially changed its name to simply Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK), dropping the "Upper" to better reflect its stewardship over the entire river basin.
The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, also called the Harbor School, is a public high school located on Governors Island. This school is unique in New York City, which has 538 miles (866 km) of waterfront, in that it attempts to relate every aspect of its curriculum to the water. The school is part of the Urban Assembly network of 21 college-prep schools in New York City.
San Francisco Baykeeper is a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization that uses science and the law to protect, preserve, and enhance the health of the ecosystems and communities that depend upon the San Francisco Bay, the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, and its watershed. SF Baykeeper is the only organization, governmental or non-profit, that regularly patrols the Bay by boat and drone to document sources of pollution.
Terry Backer, born Terrance Eddy Backer, was an American politician who served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1993 until his death in 2015.
The term Soundkeeper. was first used in the American lexicon by the Long Island Soundkeeper Fund, Inc. in 1987 upon the founding of an environmental protection organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of Long Island Sound. The name and the organization's principles were modeled after the Hudson Riverkeeper Fund. Later, both organizations independently changed their official names to Riverkeeper and Soundkeeper. Soundkeeper and Riverkeeper are founding members of the Waterkeeper Alliance. The term Soundkeeper is a registered trademark of Soundkeeper, Inc. However, it has also become common practice to refer to the lead person who is the water presence of the organization as the "Soundkeeper".
Lake Ontario Waterkeeper (LOW) is a Toronto-based environmental justice advocacy group founded in 2001, with Lake Ontario, the Great Lakes Basin, and allied waterways at heart. It is a licensed member of the New York–based Waterkeeper Alliance, and a registered Canadian charity. Lake Ontario Waterkeeper was founded by environmental lawyer Mark Mattson, and Krystyn Tully. In November 2017, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Fraser Riverkeeper, North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper and its digital platforms were all consolidated under the name “Swim Drink Fish”.
Alex Matthiessen is an environmentalist and lives in New York City. He is the son of author and naturalist Peter Matthiessen.
Nature Iraq is Iraq's first and only environmental conservation group. It is an Iraqi non-governmental organization, accredited to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and affiliated to BirdLife International. They seek to protect, restore, and preserve Iraq's natural environment and the rich cultural heritage that depends upon it. They conduct major work in sustainable development, biodiversity, and water resources. Nature Iraq was founded in 2003 by Azzam Alwash, an Iraqi refugee and engineer in the United States who returned to Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Cook Inletkeeper is a non-profit water conservation and ecology organization based in Homer, Alaska. Their stated goal is "promoting sound public policies that protect fish habitat and water quality; and holding individuals, industry and agencies accountable for habitat, water quality and human health in the Cook Inlet watershed. " The organization was founded in 1994 with funds from a legal settlement involving oil companies that extracted resources from Cook Inlet. They are part of the Waterkeeper Alliance. They were involved in pressuring the National Marine Fisheries Service to list the Cook Inlet population of beluga whales as endangered. They have also been active in opposing open-pit mining in the Cook Inlet area. They also manage a water quality laboratory in Homer that monitors 240 sites around Cook Inlet. In 2005, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke in support of their efforts at the group's ten-year anniversary celebration. He stated that "The fish in that inlet belongs to the people. Everybody has a right to use them. Nobody has a right to use them in a way that will diminish or injure their use and enjoyment by others."
Potomac Riverkeeper Network is an environmental, registered non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to protecting the Potomac River and its tributaries. As a "riverkeeper" organization, it is a member of the umbrella organization Waterkeeper Alliance.
The Kung Fu Nuns are an order of Buddhist nuns who belong to the Drukpa Kagyu lineage, a thousand-year-old sect led by the Gyalwang Drukpa. Their name comes from the order’s proficiency in Chinese martial arts, which they began learning in 2008 after the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa authorised training for them despite centuries-old Buddhist laws banning exercise for nuns.
Robert Hamilton Boyle Jr. was an environmental activist, conservationist, book author, journalist and former senior writer for Sports Illustrated. In 1966, Boyle founded the Hudson River Fishermen's Association (HRFA) with its members serving as sentries to protect the river and its inhabitants, help reverse the deterioration caused by river pollution, and bring polluters to justice. The organization grew over the years, and in 1986, was officially renamed Riverkeeper after being merged with HRFA's Riverkeeper program. It was the first "keeper" group in the global Waterkeeper Alliance movement.
Restore the Delta is a campaign, based in Stockton, California that advocates for restoring the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta also known as the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary. It began in 2006 working towards education and outreach to help Californians recognize the Delta as part of California's heritage. Currently, there are up to 40,000 members throughout California of both residents and various organizations working towards the same goal.
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