Chaco has teamed up with the Waterkeeper Alliance to promote clean waterways around the world. Waterkeeper Alliance is an environmental non-profit organization that strengthens and grows a global network of over 300 grassroots leaders protecting everyone’s right to clean water. It is the largest and fastest growing organization solely focused on water quality and accessibility to swimmable, fishable, and drinkable waterways around the world. 

New York based Waterkeeper Alliance intern, Kristen Murray, has shared with us what Waterkeeper Alliance is all about, and how you can get on the water and get involved!

Waterkeepers focus on stewarding one specific body of water, be it a river, lake, or coastal waterway. They are protectors of our water systems; improving public access to water and ensuring that protections from pollution are enforced. In a lot of circumstances, these cases go through the legal system, as the law can act as a powerful tool in creating change. Waterkeeper Alliance collectively protects over 2.4 million square miles of water on 6 continents and has over 300,000 supporters.

(Neal Gulley, Riverkeeper, NY)

Working at Waterkeeper Alliance made me realize that there are many avenues to get involved in your local community to have positive change to our environment. People can do this by finding their local Waterkeeper through waterkeeper.org, or by donating time (or funds) to support their efforts toward clean waterways.

(Robyn Janssen, Rogue Riverkeeper, OR)

It is inspiring to see Waterkeepers in action, and to learn about their successes in stewarding their waterways. Waterkeeper Alliance showed me that with enough momentum anything is possible, and that the more people involved, the better. I’ve now found myself in northwestern Montana, continuing my studies and focusing on water quality and stream ecology here. Although my internship with Waterkeeper Alliance has ended, I continue to remind myself of their philosophies and carry the knowledge I have learned from them with me in all of my future adventures.

Visit waterkeeper.org to learn more and get involved!