News & Updates - Waterkeeper

News & Updates

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Marc Yaggi quote reading "Waterkeepers have scientific and technical expertise, as well as unique perspectives and knowledge about regional water issues and associated impacts to their communities and ecosystems, that make them an invaluable resource for EPA."

Waterkeeper Alliance Works to Align Local Waterkeepers with Regional EPA Administrators


As the U.S. celebrates the 49th anniversary of the landmark Clean Water Act (CWA) legislation, Waterkeeper Alliance—a global movement that connects and...

Jeff Currie the Lumber Riverkeeper is pointing his finger. He is wearing a red shirt and there are green trees behind him.

Who is Waterkeeper: Jefferson Currie II, Lumber Riverkeeper

  • By: Thomas Hynes
  • News

Jeff Currie had only been on the job as Lumber Riverkeeper for a few weeks in 2018 when Hurricane Florence came barreling through North Carolina. The devastating...

International Coalition Petitions Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Investigate Factory-Farm Abuses


The coalition includes advocates in Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, United States, and the request is supported by 127 organizations and 151 academics,...

Help Keep Dangerous ‘Forever Chemicals’ Out of Our Water


One of the most dangerous and persistent threats to our nation’s waters is the group of emerging contaminants known as PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl...

A gas drilling rig for fracking with a sunset in the background.

Objections Target Biden’s Oil Leasing Plan Amid Climate “Code Red”


Conservation groups filed formal objections today to the Biden administration’s plans to offer 734,000 acres of public lands for oil and gas leasing...

Hydropower dam from above.

300 organizations from 69 countries call on governments to not use climate funding for so-called “sustainable” hydropower schemes


300 organizations from 69 countries today launched a Rivers for Climate Global Declaration calling on governments and leaders attending COP26 to protect...

Press Conference: Hydropower – A False Climate Solution


Over 280 organizations from 69 countries call for climate funding to exclude so-called “sustainable” hydropower schemes. WHEN: 21 September 2021 |...

Motion to Protect Amazon Rivers Approved at the World Conservation Congress in Marseille


By Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR). Republished with permission. The Members’ Assembly of the International Union for Conservation of...

Chubb is the 16th insurer to cut ties with the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline


“Chubb does not provide insurance coverage for any tar sands projects,” a Chubb spokesperson told the Financial Times today. The announcement was...

Help Ensure All Americans Have Safe Drinking Water

  • By: Thomas Hynes
  • News

Reliably clean and safe drinking water is something most people expect as a given. That trust was earned through protections like those afforded under...

In Response to Lawsuit, EPA Pledges to Strengthen Standards for Slaughterhouse Water Pollution


In a victory for clean water, EPA announced yesterday that it will update water pollution control standards for the slaughterhouse industry following a...

Upper Missouri Waterkeeper Guy Alsentzer stands in knee deep water in a river with trees in the background.

Who is Waterkeeper: Guy Alsentzer, Upper Missouri Waterkeeper

  • By: Thomas Hynes
  • News

There’s an old expression in Montana: “Whiskey’s for drinking, and water’s for fighting.” Leading that fight as Upper Missouri Waterkeeper is...

Open Letter Calls on Insurers to Cut Ties with Trans Mountain, as Key Pipeline Insurance Policy Expires


Fifteen insurers have ruled out Trans Mountain already; coalition pledges to continue pressuring the remaining companies Today, Indigenous, environmental,...

Ocean view of the Bahamas

Coalition Reacts to UN Climate Report, Renews call for Nationwide Ban on Oil Drilling in The Bahamas


IPCC 6th Report: Scientists articulate dire warnings and extreme costs of societal inaction The Our Islands Our Future coalition today renewed its call...

We Must Urgently Restore Clean Water Protections


 In 2020, the Trump administration issued an unprecedented new regulation that dramatically eliminated federal Clean Water Act protections for rivers,...

Waterkeeper Alliance Responds to Dire IPCC Report on Climate Crisis


The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released earlier today brings a dire warning: climate change is accelerating and aggressive...

A river flows through Big Sky Montana

Wealth Before Health: State Regulators Ignoring Big Sky’s Big Pollution Problem


Wealthy Developers Get Categorical Exclusions; Ignoring Cumulative Impacts Polluting Gallatin River Watershed Originally posted by Upper Missouri Waterkeeper....

Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca takes a water sample from a boat.

Who is Waterkeeper: Ivy Frignoca, Casco Baykeeper

  • By: Thomas Hynes
  • News

When the Casco Baykeeper position opened up six years ago, Ivy Frignoca jumped at the opportunity. Frignoca is a lawyer and environmental advocate, whose...

Plastic water bottles float in water

Plastic Free July: Thinking beyond litter, landfills, and recycling rates


Plastic Free July is a global movement for cleaner streets, oceans, and communities. Waterkeeper Alliance salutes our partners and all those fighting back...

500+ Organizations Call on US and Canadian Leaders to Reject Carbon Capture and Storage as a False Solution to Climate Crisis


It’s Time to End the Carbon Capture of Climate Policy In an open letter sent today to leaders in the United States and Canada, more than 500 US, Canadian,...

Support the Environmental Justice Legacy Pollution Cleanup Act

  • By: Thomas Hynes
  • News

The Environmental Justice Legacy Pollution Cleanup Act is proposed legislation from Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Representative A. Donald McEachin (VA-04)....

Lawsuit Filed to Overturn Denial of Endangered Species Protection to Eastern Hellbenders


North America’s Largest Salamanders Are Threatened by River Pollution From New York to Missouri A lawsuit filed today by five conservation groups challenges...

Clean Water Act Victory in the Washington State Court of Appeals


Originally published by Puget Soundkeeper, reposted with permission. Soundkeeper and Partners Successful in their Challenge of a Statewide Agricultural...

Washington Appellate Court Rejects State’s Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation Permits, Finds State Failed to Protect Water Quality and Account for Climate Change


Yesterday, as record-setting heat threatened the sustainability of Washington’s water resources, a three-judge panel of the Washington Court of Appeals...

Who is Waterkeeper: John Forrester, Werribee Riverkeeper

  • By: Thomas Hynes
  • News

John Forrester has been the Werribee Riverkeeper in Australia since 2014. His love of the river, however, goes back much further than that. Forrester has...

ferc pipeline

Hundreds of Groups Demand Biden Name Climate-Focused FERC Commissioner


With a Biden nominee on the way, climate activists want the White House to prioritize a shift off fossil fuels Over 320 community, climate, and environmental...

Restore Section 401 to the Clean Water Act


A controversial 2020 regulation promulgated by the Trump EPA dramatically diminished state and tribal authority under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act....

Groups to Biden: Halt New Oil Drilling, Cancel Trump Leases on Public Lands


Climate, Indigenous and conservation groups today called on the Biden administration to halt new drilling permits and to cancel unlawful Trump-era oil...

A large blue lake with an island in the middle of it and trees in the foreground.

Biden Administration Comes Up Short in Action to Restore National Clean Water Protections


Important Waterways Across the Country Left Unprotected Indefinitely During Administrative Process Citing to the significant environmental degradation...

Nature Always Wins: The Colorado River Basin’s Dam Problem


The fight for clean and free-flowing waterways often runs up against dams. These structures once seemed like great solutions for how to provide power and...

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