The Riverkeeper Program
The Riverkeepers are the primary voice for their river and work through the core strategies of advocacy, enforcement, outreach, and water quality monitoring to achieve our vision of clean waterways. Our Riverkeepers regularly patrol their rivers and tributaries, advocate for strong clean water laws, educate our communities, and serve as guardians for these living resources.
Riverkeepers are members of Waterkeeper Alliance, an international movement with the mission to grow a global network of grassroots leaders protecting everyone’s right to clean water. Our Riverkeepers are full-time employees of ShoreRivers who are independently licensed by Waterkeeper Alliance. At ShoreRivers, each Riverkeeper is supported by a committee tasked with advocating for accessible, swimmable, and fishable rivers; advising the Riverkeeper on issues important to that particular watershed; and taking action to protect and restore the rivers and creeks in their watershed.
ShoreRivers is a member of Waterkeepers Chesapeake, a group of eighteen Chesapeake Bay advocacy programs which are coordinating efforts and building leverage to impact environmental legislation and policy across the watershed.
Licensed by Waterkeeper Alliance, ShoreRivers is part of a growing network of nearly 300 Waterkeepers and affiliate programs in 34 countries whose active presence on waterways is becoming a force for change. Waterkeeper Alliance sprung from grassroots environmental advocacy begun on the Hudson River in the 1960s. It is now an international center which approves and licenses Waterkeeper programs around the globe. The Alliance provides litigation and administrative resources, assists in developing clean water policy initiatives, and provides a forum for Waterkeepers to exchange information, strategy, and know-how. ShoreRivers, however, has its own board of directors and independently determines its own policies and priorities.
