This year’s Impact Report celebrates the unity and diversity of our global movement that strengthens and advances our mission to protect the right to clean water in communities around the world. To achieve this, Waterkeeper Alliance ensures that Waterkeeper groups are as connected to each other as they are to their local waters, organizing the fight for clean water into coordinated action on all levels.
EPA Restores Authority to States, Territories, and Tribes under CWA 401 Final Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final 2023 Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule, which restores the fundamental right of states, territories, and Tribes to protect local water resources and support sustainable economic growth through informed and focused water quality reviews of infrastructure and development projects in impacted communities.
Waterkeeper Alliance Responds to the Biden Administration’s Five-Year Plan for Offshore Drilling
The U.S. Department of the Interior released its National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2024-2029 (“Five-Year Plan”) today, under which it intends to offer three lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico. Although this plan includes the fewest lease sales in the Five-Year Plan’s history, and significantly fewer than what the draft plan proposed, it is still incongruent with both President Biden’s domestic climate and environmental justice commitments and global action to keep global warming to 1.5℃.
Estonian Oil Shale Giant Abandons Federal Oil Shale Lease, Loses Colorado River Basin Water Deal
Estonian state-owned oil shale company Enefit American Oil is abandoning its lease to mine oil shale on federal public land in northeastern Utah’s Uinta Basin.
Legal Victory Puts Hellbender Back on Track for Endangered Species Protection
In response to a lawsuit filed by five conservation groups, a federal judge found today that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2019 denial of Endangered Species Act protection for the eastern hellbender salamander was arbitrary and unlawful.
There may be a mythical monster (known locally as 'Champy') living in her lake, but she is way more concerned with climate change, flooding, and other threats.
