Mission

Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. connects and supports local Waterkeeper programs to provide a voice for waterways and their communities worldwide. To champion clean water and strong communities, Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc.: Supports and empowers member Waterkeeper organizations to protect communities, ecosystems and water quality; Promotes the Waterkeeper model for watershed protection worldwide; and Advocates for issues common to Waterkeeper programs.

What We Do

Waterkeeper Alliance is among the world's fastest growing environmental movement, with more than 200 local Waterkeepers patrolling rivers, lakes and coastal waterways on 6 continents. Waterkeepers defend their communities against anyone who threatens their right to clean water. Through Waterkeeper Alliance, Waterkeepers speak with a single, powerful voice as they tackle the world’s most pressing water issues. The Alliance stands behind every Waterkeeper, increasing their ability to function as community defenders in their efforts to protect the world’s waterways.

Founded in 1999 by environmental attorney and activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and several veteran Waterkeeper Organizations, Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement of on-the-water advocates who patrol and protect over 100,000 miles of rivers, streams and coastlines in North and South America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa.

Waterkeeper Organizations combine firsthand knowledge of their waterways with an unwavering commitment to the rights of their communities and to the rule of law. Whether they are on the water tracking down polluters, in a courtroom advocating for stronger enforcement of environmental laws, at a town meeting rallying community support, or in a classroom educating young people, Waterkeeper Organizations defend their communities against anyone who threatens their right to clean water—from law-breaking polluters to unresponsive government agencies.

Waterkeeper Alliance keeps Waterkeepers connected, provides them with legal, scientific and communications support, and unites their voices as they take on major global water issues together. We connect individual Waterkeepers to each other, and support them by providing expertise in science, law, strategic planning and communications, making them more effective in their communities’ courtrooms and classrooms, and in the media.