Waterkeeper Alliance is a worldwide network of environmental organizations founded in 1999, in response to a growing movement of organizations with such names as Riverkeeper, Baykeeper, Soundkeeper, and other related "keeper" names. Two decades later, in December 2019, the network had grown to 350 members in 46 countries, with half the membership outside the U.S.; the alliance had added 200 groups in the last five years. The original Riverkeeper, organized in 1983, started on the Hudson River in New York, in response to the destructive industrial pollution that was destroying the river. It soon was followed by Long Island Soundkeeper, Delaware Riverkeeper, San Francisco Baykeeper, New York/New Jersey Baykeeper, and others. Now, Hudson Riverkeeper is headed by Paul Gallay, the chief executive since July, 2010. Today, Waterkeeper Alliance, which is based out of Manhattan, unites all Waterkeeper organizations, coordinating and covering issues affecting Waterkeepers that work to protect rivers, lakes, bays, sounds, and other water bodiesaround the world. In the U.S., the east coast is strongly represented; only 52 of the 180 groups cover watersheds west of the Mississippi. The group bills itself as the fastest growing grassroots environmental movement in the world, spanning six continents. Each Waterkeeper organization is devoted to the preservation of specific watersheds. There are around 350 Waterkeeper organizations and affiliates on six continents in 46 countries defending communities against anyone who threatens their right to clean water—from polluters to unresponsive government agencies. Waterkeeper Alliance advocacy campaigns unite the work of Waterkeeper organizations around the globe to move away from our reliance on fossil fuels, eliminate the impacts of factory farms on waterways, protect and restore watersheds, and help create and enforce environmental laws by publicizing violations and violators. In June 2019, in a collaboration with travel site Culture Trip, the alliance honored twenty global "Waterkeeper Warriors", advocates behind successful clean-water battles of the past two decades. In addition to American activists, more than half of the honorees were people and from other countries such as: The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Nepal, Peru, Senegal, and United Kingdom.
Leadership
The Waterkeeper Alliance board of directors is a 13-person board composed of 6 members elected from the Waterkeeper Council, 6 members elected from the Trustee Council, and a president elected by the Waterkeeper Alliance membership. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. serves as president of Waterkeeper Alliance's board of directors and the organization's executive director is Marc Yaggi.
