The Waterkeeper Story

The EMERALD COASTKEEPER®, INC. is a part of the Waterkeeper Alliance;  a group composed of over two hundred organizations throughout the world. The Waterkeeper Alliance is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit environmental organization. The EMERALD COASTKEEPER®, INC. and the Waterkeeper Alliance has its origins in the Hudson Riverkeeper also a 501c (3) not-for-profit environmental organization whose purpose is to protect those communities who depend on the Hudson River, its tributaries and its watershed. The organization was started by a coalition of commercial and recreational fishermen who mobilized in 1966 to reclaim the Hudson from its polluters. They constructed a boat to patrol the river and hired the first full-time Riverkeeper in 1983. They modeled the program after the riverkeepers of the British Isle who looked after private trout and salmon streams, usually for estates and manors and private fishing clubs.

Over the years, Hudson Riverkeeper has evolved into an independent, member- supported organization that continues to prove itself as the premier guardian of the Hudson River, its tributaries and its watershed lands. By 1998, Riverkeeper had filed over 100 successful legal actions against Hudson River polluters forcing them to spend over $1 billion in remediation costs on the River. The Hudson's miraculous recovery (the river that was once dead for large stretches in 1966 is now one of the richest water bodies on earth) has helped make the Keeper program an international model for ecosystem protection.

The Waterkeeper philosophy is based on the notion that the protection and enjoyment of a community's natural resources requires the daily vigilance of its citizens. The  Waterkeeper movement is an environmental "neighborhood watch" program. A citizen's patrol to protect the community's waters. A  Waterkeeper is a full-time, privately funded, nongovernmental ombudsperson whose special responsibility is to be the full­ time public advocate for a water body. At a minimum, it is the  Waterkeeper's job to advocate compliance with environmental laws, respond to citizen complaints, identify problems which affect his or her body of water and devise appropriate remedies, serve as a living witness to the condition of the ecosystem, and be an advocate for the public's right to protect and defend the environment. Within those parameters each Waterkeeper program is expected to represent the unique circumstances and needs of the  Waterkeeper's community.