What is a Waterkeeper?

A Waterkeeper is a nonprofit, grassroots organization that serves as a public advocate for healthy waterways. Waterkeepers patrol and restore the health of local waterways.  They hold polluters accountable by enforcing and improving environmental laws through advocacy and litigation, conducting water quality monitoring, and educating the public about the tools available to be local water stewards. 

The Waterkeeper model started in 1966 on New York's Hudson River, where a coalition of commercial and recreational fishermen mobilized to reclaim the Hudson from its polluters, and in doing so forming the Hudson Riverkeeper. Largely as a result of their work, the river that was once effectively dead is now one of the richest water bodies in the North Atlantic. The hard-won recovery of the Hudson River inspired the Waterkeeper movement, which now has nearly 200 Waterkeepers worldwide who work for the protection of their local waters.  In California, there are 12 Waterkeepers spanning the coast from San Diego to the Oregon Border.  The Waterkeeper movement is among the fastest growing grassroots environmental movements, and it is a unique force for ecosystem protection on a global level.

The Waterkeeper Alliance supports and connects the work of all of these Waterkeeper members worldwide. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is Chairman of the Board of the Waterkeeper Alliance and  serves as Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper.  CCKA is a proud member of the Waterkeeper Alliance.