The Waterkeeper Alliance

 The Waterkeeper movement was started  by a band of blue-collar fishermen on New York’s Hudson River in 1966  because industrial polluters were destroying their way of life. Their  tough, grassroots brand of environmental activism sparked the Hudson’s  miraculous recovery and inspired others to launch Waterkeeper groups  around the world. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the chairman of the WKA.  His devotion to clean water has been the driving force to its remarkable growth.  

Today, Waterkeeper Alliance unites  more than 300 Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates that are on the  frontlines of the global water crisis, patrolling and protecting more  than 2.5 million square miles of rivers, lakes and coastal waterways on  six continents.  From Alaska to the Himalayas, the  Great Lakes to Australia, the Waterkeeper movement defends the  fundamental human right to drinkable, fishable and swimmable waters, and  combines firsthand knowledge of their local waterways with an  unwavering commitment to the rights of their communities.

Whether they’re on the water tracking  down polluters, in courtrooms enforcing environmental laws, advocating  in town meetings or teaching in classrooms, the Waterkeeper movement  speaks for the waters it defends – with the collective strength of  Waterkeeper Alliance and the backing of local communities. 

Waterkeeper Alliance ensures that the  world’s Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates are as connected to each other as they are to their local waters, organizing the fight for clean water into a coordinated global movement.