Descriptions of organizations come largely from their own websites. Any group's views and actions in their entirety do not necessarily represent the opinions of Blue Planet Links Foundation. BPL's mission is to promote sustainably healthy ocean and fresh water, and to the best of our knowledge, the listed organizations share this objective.
© 2012 Blue Planet Links
Rivers & dams
Links to organizations promoting healthy
oceans and fresh waters
Look around: we are deliberately (or thoughtlessly) turning our water sources, shorelines and fish habitats TOXIC. We're ignoring climate change, using water like crazy, thinking short-term.
But some people are fighting back, thinking ahead, spreading the word, and winning battles that can make our children's world will better. Find out more below:
American Rivers
http://www.americanrivers.org
Environmental activists push to protect endangered U.S. rivers and their natural fish populations.
American Whitewater
http://www.americanwhitewater.org
Pushes to preserve recreational access to rivers; some campaigns focus on decommissioning of specific dams.
BCIT Watershed Pledge Program
http://www.watershed.bcit.ca
"Every home is waterfront property." A program designed to ecourage community involvement in the sustainability of our water resources. Designed for the Vancouver, Canada area, but ideas could be useful for any community.
Columbia & Snake Rivers Campaign
http://www.wildsalmon.org
The objective is to recover America's Pacific Northwest wild salmon stocks and the healthy rivers and habitats upon which they depend, including the removal of 4 Lower Snake River dams.
International Rivers Network
http://www.irn.org
Fights to protect rivers and watersheds, including campaigns "to halt destructive development projects", including new dams, decommissioning of existing dams, and canals, and to search out alternative, equitable and sustainable means of meeting needs for water, energy and flood management.
National Geographic
http://news.nationalgeographic.com
Search WATER for general info on water and water issues around the world. Also http://environment.nationalgeographic.com: Freshwater and Oceans lead you to opportunities to support healthy waters, as well as lots of water-topic news and information.
Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C.
http://www.orcbc.ca/
Dedicated to the protection of British Columbia's land and waters to help preserve the active lifestyle of British Columbians. Provincial organizer of British Columbia Rivers Day (last Sunday in September), ORC provides promotional assistance and advice for organizations that want to celebrate with rivers-related activities.
RBC Blue Water Project
bluewater.rbc.com/ RBC provides financial support to North American not-for-profit organizations that protect watersheds and provide or ensure access to clean drinking water.
River Recovery
http://www.recovery.bcit.ca
Recovering rivers and fish stocks through removal or modification of dams that have outlived their usefulness."
Riverkeepers
http://www.riverkeeper.org
High profile (Robert Kennedy, Jr.) river advocacy group that has been responsible for significant clean-up of the Hudson River in New York.
The Nature Conservancy (freshwater)
http://www.nature.org/initiatives/fresh...
Initiatives of this environmental nonprofit organization include the Sustainable Rivers Project in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean; marine initiatives to restore coral reefs and coastal ecosystems, and the Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation projects (http://www.freshwaters.org), one of which helped successfully restore to health Southern California's only undammed coastal river.
"My own contribution is
just a drop in the bucket
–but together our drops
make a flood"
A single person can make a difference, but sometimes it takes a group.
More voices, more money, more workers can influence a government to change its policies... can produce materials that will make people think... can galvanize public opinion to stop habitat devastation or prevent water quality degradation.
Some groups have a particular focus: surfers want clean beaches; marine biologists and fishers alike want thriving ocean habitats; canoeists want clear, clean lakes; broad-based environmental groups may concentrate on a specific location.