Building a stronger, more resilient watershed that will thrive in the face of a changing climate for generations to come.

When it comes to climate change, protecting the health of our communities goes hand in hand with restoring and defending our watershed. Wetlands, floodplains, healthy streams, and native plant species can not only sustain wildlife populations in the face of climate change, but also play a crucial role in mitigating its worst impacts on human communities. Whether it’s free-flowing rivers soaking up flood waters or oyster reefs absorbing the force of storm surge, preserving and restoring our native biodiversity buffers us. Riverkeeper’s work to protect these systems by extension helps support climate-adaptive communities that are able to anticipate and manage climate risks and bounce back from extreme events.

In many cases, changes to temperature and precipitation due to climate change will reveal pollution problems that have been manageable in the past. Extreme storms have closed beaches along the Hudson. Warmer water temperatures coupled with short-term droughts have caused extensive harmful algal blooms on the Wallkill River. Disinfection byproducts are a growing concern in regional drinking water supplies, including New York City’s. By addressing existing pollution sources — from sewage overflows to excess nutrients — Riverkeeper works to make our waters more resilient to the climate extremes in our future.

Riverkeeper works to promote equitable nature-based solutions that will sustain life in our communities and our waterways. For decades we have been a leading voice promoting green infrastructure technologies (e.g. rain gardens, green roofs, planted curb cuts) to capture rain where it falls, reduce polluted stormwater runoff, and provide natural features — especially in our urban centers. We are removing abandoned and obsolete dams in our waterways to restore connectivity in our rivers and creeks, which helps reduce flooding and prevents catastrophic dam failures during storms. We have been instrumental in passing state legislation that protects our remaining wetlands from development, which gives living shoreline coastal resilience projects priority over hardening shorelines.

Riverkeeper was key in shaping the landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) passed in 2019, which set forth the ambitious but necessary goal of achieving zero-emissions electricity by 2040 in New York. As the state implements the law, we are working to prioritize reforestation for watershed protection and restoration. With this, New York can protect our drinking water sources and restore impaired waters while sequestering carbon with new forested areas. We also succeeded in using the CLCPA to block the expansion of Danksammer, a Hudson River fossil fuel plant.

The cascading impacts of climate change threaten water quality, including our region’s drinking water supplies. Riverkeeper is a leader in communicating the emerging science around this critical issue. In addition, our habitat restoration, data collection, and legislative outreach helps to promote drinking water source protection, and we collaborate with local communities, government agencies, and other stakeholders to develop and implement strategies that mitigate these risks. Our goals include enhancing natural buffers on streams, protecting wetlands, promoting sustainable land-use practices, and upgrading infrastructure to handle extreme weather events. By focusing on these proactive measures, Riverkeeper aims to ensure that the Hudson River and its surrounding areas remain resilient to climate change, safeguarding clean drinking water and protecting our natural world for future generations.

As heat extremes become more common, people will need more ways to stay cool. Riverkeeper is promoting our vision of increased access to swimming in the Hudson River and around New York City through the reopening of shuttered beaches and the creation of new public beaches and river pools.