WATERKEEPER® ALLIANCE

What's new?

Each year in the United States, 1,100 coal-fired power plants spew roughly 50 tons of Mercury, a deadly neurotoxin, into the air…. poisoning our nation’s lakes, rivers, and streams, fouling our water and food supply and endangering the health of you and your loved ones. These antiquated power plants are this nation’s largest unregulated industrial source of mercury contamination, threatening the health and welfare of millions of Americans.

Yet Santee Cooper wants to build a new coal-fired power plant on the Pee Dee River in South Carolina. The Pee Dee River, along with others of our coastal plain rivers, is subject to fish advisories from the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control limiting consumption of largemouth bass, for example, to one meal per month due to Mercury contamination.

We think it's time to protect our fish and keep our waters clean! Just say NO to coal and demand that Santee Cooper focus on energy efficiency and energy conservation along with clean alternatives to coal. After all, clean coal is just a dirty lie!

Who we are?

Waterkeeper Alliance is a grassroots advocacy organization with 181 local programs and growing. Waterkeeper Alliance connects and supports local Waterkeeper programs to provide a voice for waterways and their communities worldwide. We are dedicated to preserving and protecting YOUR WATER from polluters.

The common thread for each Waterkeeper program is a full-time person who serves as the Waterkeeper, the public advocate for that body of water. A Waterkeeper’s job is to advocate compliance with environmental laws, respond to citizen complaints, identify problems which affect the water body and devise appropriate remedies, educate the public and advocate for the public’s right to protect and defend the environment. Each Waterkeeper program reflects the needs of the water body and the community it represents.

Mallards on the Waccamaw

photo: Steve Berkowitz

The Waterkeeper concept started on the Hudson River where a coalition of commercial and recreational fishermen mobilized in 1966 to reclaim the Hudson from its polluters. You can read more about the movement at the Waterkeeper Alliance website.

• Waterkeepers are uncompromising advocates for their body of water.
• They are full time, paid representatives for a selected body of water.
• They are funded by grass roots non-profit organizations.
• Government affiliated organizations cannot sponsor a Waterkeeper program.
• Funding to ⁄ for the non-profit organization is through grants, donations, and membership dues.
• The Waterkeeper programs throughout the US have great credibility. The Waterkeeper Alliance is comprised of over 180 Waterkeeper programs throughout the Americas and beyond.
• All Waterkeeper programs, including the Waccamaw Riverkeeper program, are licensed by the Waterkeeper Alliance which is headquartered in NY.
• Once a program is licensed, the local group hires the Waterkeeper.
• The Alliance helps with training and start up through its Waterkeeper resources.

Waterkeepers in the Carolinas

The waterkeepers in North and South Carolina work together to protect the waters of the Carolinas from pollution and polluters. WATERKEEPER® Carolinas has been formed to help create the synergy necessary to work on these watersheds. Recently, three new programs were approved in South Carolina, the Charleston WATERKEEPER® Program, the Santee RIVERKEEPER® and the Congaree RIVERKEEPER®. These new programs join the Waccamaw RIVERKEEPER®, the Catawba RIVERKEEPER® and the Savannah RIVERKEEPER®, all of whom having portions of their watersheds in South Carolina that need to be watched over.

Join our efforts to protect our rivers.
Become a member! Join now!