Waterkeeper Alliance Announces 6th Annual SPLASH Event Series, Presented Nationally by Toyota

April 11, 2016

Thousands of Americans celebrate the importance of clean water by getting out on their local waterways to swim, paddle, race, fish and make a SPLASH!

NEW YORK, NY – Waterkeeper Alliance, the largest and fastest growing nonprofit solely focused on clean water, today announced the locations of its 6th Annual SPLASH Event Series, presented nationally by Toyota.  SPLASH events will take place on waterways across the United States to support local Waterkeeper organizations by engaging community members and outdoor enthusiasts in events comprised of water-based recreational activities like swimming, paddling, kayaking, fishing and much more.

“One of the best tools we have to emphasize the importance of making our waters swimmable, drinkable and fishable, is to engage people with their local waterways,” said Marc Yaggi, Executive Director of Waterkeeper Alliance. “We thank Toyota for their continued commitment to the environment, and for presenting this national program that makes a stronger impact every year.”

“We are pleased to continue our nationwide support of Waterkeeper Alliance and the 6th Annual SPLASH Event Series,”said Kevin Butt, Regional Environmental Director at Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing Lexington, Kentucky Area. “Toyota has a long-standing commitment to preserving our nation’s water resources. Last year, we saved the equivalent of over 54 million gallons of water as a result of our conservation efforts. Toyota’s support of Waterkeeper organizations across the country with the SPLASH Series is an exemplary model which has and will continue to educate local communities on how important it is for them to take action to preserve this vital resource.”

A record 13 events were approved for the 2016/17 season including nine new-to-the-series events and five alumni class events, collectively engaging an estimated 8,425+ participants:

• April 16, 2016 – Stand Up for Clean Water to benefit Los Angeles Waterkeeper®
• April 30, 2016 – Water Fest to benefit Miami Waterkeeper®
• May 21, 2016 – Great Russian River Race to benefit Russian Riverkeeper®
• June 4, 2016 – Grandman Triathlon to benefit Mobile Baykeeper®
• June 9-19, 2016 – Paddle Potomac! Paddle Shenandoah! to benefit Potomac Riverkeeper Network
• June 11, 2016 – James River Rundown to benefit James River Association (Upper James Riverkeeper®;  Lower James Riverkeeper®)
• June 25, 2016 – Buzzards Bay Swim to benefit Buzzards Bay Coalition (R/V Buzzards Baykeeper®)
• June 25, 2016 – Mayfly Festival to benefit Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper®
• July 2, 2016 – Sunrise. Sunset. Susquehanna. to benefit Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper®
• August 13, 2016 – Swim for Grand Traverse Bay to benefit The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay (Grand Traverse Baykeeper®)
• September 16, 2016 – New York Harbor Regatta to benefit New York Harbor Foundation
• September 17, 2016 – Santa Barbara Aquathon to benefit Santa Barbara Channelkeeper®
• September 24, 2016 – Pirates of the Hackensack RiverFest to benefit Hackensack Riverkeeper®

For more information and event details, please visit: www.splashseries.org.

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About Waterkeeper Alliance

Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 280 Waterkeeper organizations around the world and focusing citizen advocacy on issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. Waterkeepers patrol and protect more than 2.3 million square miles of rivers, streams and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. For more information please visit:www.waterkeeper.org.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands. Over the past 50 years, we’ve built more than 30 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 44,000 people (more than 34,000 in the U.S.).  Our 1,800 North American dealerships (1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.5 million in the U.S.) in 2015 – and about 80 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 20 years are still on the road today.

To date, Toyota has contributed more than $850 million to American nonprofit groups.  For more information about Toyota’s contributions in the U.S., visit: www.toyota.com/about.

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