Our Mission

MISSION:

Our mission is to strengthen the ability of citizens to protect water quality in rivers, tributary watersheds, oceans, bays, wetlands, surface and groundwater in California.

River Watch protects local waterways through education, pollution prevention, enforcement, and preservation. River Watch prevents water pollution through cooperation with property owners, regulatory agencies and businesses by engaging all stakeholders in the process of negotiating a solution to stop and clean up the pollution of water. If cooperation and negotiations fail, River Watch brings suit to prevent any further harm to our precious water resources, freshwater species, public health and safety.

Through River Watch’s negotiations, a portion of proceeds goes to remediation projects and other environmental activities, such as reforestation projects. Interested individuals can get involved with one of these projects by checking the Activist Corner and the Action Calendar for details.

We refuse to idly stand by to let businesses and corporations discharge sewage, metals, phosphates, pesticides, herbicides, etc. (and the list goes on….) into our water, especially when there are local, State and Federal laws to prevent this pollution. However:

  • Only 23% of wastewater standards are enforced in California.
    (Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Center for Progressive Regulation)
  • Civil lawsuits by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are down 75% over the last several years.

We work every day to make sure:

  • Kids and families have clean, healthy water to play and swim in.
  • Fish you eat is not toxic because they live in healthy rivers.
  • Waste you flush down the toilet doesn’t end up in your drinking water.
  • Property values don’t plummet because of proximity to dirty, polluted water.
  • Drinking water is safe to drink, and you don’t have to buy bottled water.
  • Petrol doesn’t leak into water from underground storage tanks.
  • Tap water for your shower doesn’t contain arsenic.
  • Corporations don’t get to take advantage of lack of enforcement.