Australia

Waterkeepers Australia is a not-for-profit, independent, organization that was formed in 2003. An active part of the Waterkeeper Alliance, Waterkeepers Australia boasts a growing membership engaged in protecting and preserving Australia’s precious waterways.

The multifaceted life of a Waterkeeper includes patrolling their waterway, gathering samples and testing water quality, talking to public groups about local water issues, and communicating with government bodies.  Waterkeeper organizations need support for water monitoring and patrolling programs and to fund their Waterkeeper positions.

The national office in Victoria supports the work of the member groups, each a registered Waterkeeper organization in their own right, each a strong and dedicated group of people committed to doing all they can for their local waterway, whether lake, river, bay, beach,  wetland, coastal area, estuary, or creek.  The vision is to see a Waterkeeper on every waterway in Australia, protecting and preserving our unique natural wealth for generations to come.

A hallmark of Australian Waterkeeper organizations is that they work very closely with community groups to protect their local creeks, rivers, lakes and bays.  The Waterkeeper organizations work tirelessly both as individual groups and as a coordinated group to restore and preserve their waterways.  They are engaged in an array of activities from fighting unsustainable development projects that threaten wetlands to finding solutions to minimize algal blooms associated with human waste. 

 Major Victories:

Australian Waterkeepers are successfully influencing legislation to restore the original flow of historically significant rivers, like the Snowy River. They are involved in a campaign against a pipeline project, working to advocate for increased conservation initiatives as opposed to further exacerbating drought-stricken areas. 

Click here for a list of Waterkeeper Organizations in Australia.