Call to Action from NWNL: Become involved in finding solutions to water needs, locally or globally.
Remember – it’s too late to be a pessimist!
Disclaimer: NWNL does not necessarily endorse the organizations below.
Please send us any recommended additions. (We do not include for-profit or political enterprises.)
“The story of civilization is the story of what happens on the banks.” — Will Durant, US historian
GLOBAL WATERHSHED ORGANIZATIONS
AFRICAN WATERSHED ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICAN WATERSHED ORGANIZATIONS
GLOBAL WATERHSHED ORGANIZATIONS
BirdLife International: Sustainability for birds, habitats and biodiversity.
Blue Planet Network: Uses a Peer Water Exchange (PWX) to enable safe drinking water for 200,000,000 people.
CARE: Helps families and communities access clean water resources.
Circle of Blue: Circle of Blue: Global freshwater issues.
Charity Water: Brings clean water to developing nations.
Conservation International: Science, policy, fieldwork and solutions.
Defenders of Wildlife: Wildlife, native habitat and our freshwater supplies.
Direct Relief International (DRI): Strengthening existing fragile health systems.
EarthEasy: Addresses drought-tolerant planting, lawn alternatives and Xeriscaping in arid areas.
Environmental Working Group (EWG): Protecting public health and the environment.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Water use at global, national and local levels.
Food and Water Watch: Clean water and safe food.
Fresh Water Animal Diversity Assessment (FADA): A information system on freshwater biodiversity.
Freshwater Information Platform: Better science, policy and management of freshwater life.
Future Earth: Research for a sustainable world.
Global Water Challenge (GWC): Universal access to clean water and safe sanitation.
Global Water Partnership (GWP): Integrated water resource management.
Global Water Policy/Sandra Postel: Freshwater challenges and constructive solutions.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Scientific and socio-economic assessment of climate change.
International Lake Environment (ILEC)
International Network of Basin Organization (INBO):
International Rivers (IR): Protect rivers and their communities as it opposes destructive dams.
International Society for River Science (ISRS): Scholarship in knowledge and stewardship of rivers and streams.
International Water Assoication (IWA): Leading sustainable approaches to water management.
International Water Management Institute (IWMA): Meeting water demands of a growing population.
International Water Resources Associate (IWRA): Networking on sustainable use of water in developing countries.
International Water and Sanitation Centre: Low-cost water supply and sanitation.
Keepers of the Waters: Preserve and remediate water sources via art, science and community involvement.
KickStart: Develops and markets new technologies in Africa, especially their manual irrigation pumps.
Laundry List: Suggests energy and pollution related tips for laundry.
Living Lakes: Projects benefiting lakes, wetlands, wildlife and people.
MARS: Managing aquatic ecosystems and water water resources under multiple stressors now and in the future.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC): Protection of million acres of land and many miles of rivers in 30 countries.
Netzkraft Movement: Peace, human rights and ecological sustainability.
Pacific Institue for Studies in Developement, Environment, and Security: Water access and the environment.
Population Services International: Promotes purifying drinking water, improved sanitation and diarrhea prevention.
Project WET: Provides water education to children, parents and educators.
Rainforest Aliiance: Sustainability of tropical forest and their biodiversity.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (RAMSAR): Conservation and wise use of wetlands.
The Safe Water Network: Sustainable and affordable sources of water.
Sanitation First: Promotes compositing toilets without chemicals.
Save the Children: Helps children achieve a happy, healthy and secure childhood.
Society of Environmental Journalists: Quality, reach and viability of journalism across all media.
Society for Freshwater Science: Freshwater organisms, ecosystems, habitat and water quality.
Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI): Water awareness via its annual World Water Week.
UN – Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation: Carbon stores in low-carbon developement.
UN – Water: Surface, groundwater and the interface between fresh and seawater.
UN Development Programme: Poverty, women, the enviornment and resiliency in the face of climate change.
UN Environment Programme (UNEP): Climate change, disasters, conflicts and resource management.
Wash Advocates: Access to drinking water and adequate sanitation.
WaterAid: Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
WaterHealth International: Offers strategies for processing drinking water in undeserved communities.
Water.org: Highlights unsafe and inadequate water supplies.
Water Footprint Network: Promotes sustainable, fair and efficient water usage.
Water for People: Supports locally sustainable drinking water resources, sanitation and hygiene.
Water is Life: Program includes water filtration and drilling water wells.
Water & Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG): Helping reduce insufficient safe water and sanitation.
Wetlands International: Wetlands, their resources and biodiversity.
WILD Foundation: Wilderness, wildlife and people.
Wilson Center – Environmental Change and Security Program: Water availability
Women for Water Partnership (WFWP): Promotes women’s empowerment related to water.
World Bank – Water and Sanitation: Knowledgeable, building capacity and partnerships.
World Bank – Water Resources Management: Loans to assist developing countries fight poverty.
World Conservation Union (IUCN): Integrity and diversity of nature.
World Health Organization (WHO)/Water Sanitation and Health (WSH): Water, sanitation and hygiene.
World Lakes: Health of lake ecosystems.
World Meteorological Organization (WMO): Hydrology and water resources management.
World Water Council: Management of water resources and services.
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF): The planet’s natural environment.
Worldwatch Institute: Environmental data on a less consumptive society.
AFRICAN WATERSHED ORGANIZATIONS
African People and Wildlife Fund (APW): Works to conserve Africa’s wildlife, protect natural habitats, and promote village development.
African Rainforest Conservancy (ARC): Promotes conservation and restoration if African rainforests.
African Water Journalist Network: Promotes coverage of water issues by African journalists.
Friends of the Mau Watershed (FOMAWA): Aims to reverse degradation of Kenya’s Mau Forest.
Global Resource Alliance (GRA): Addresses poverty and disease in Lake Victoria region, Tanzania.
Green Belt Movement (GBM): Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai’s project has planted over 30 million trees.
Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO): Promotes fisheries and lake resources via its data bank.
Mara Conservancy: Has improved conservation and management in the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Nile Basin Initiative (NBI): Promotes peace and security in 11 Nile countries.
Northern Rangelands Trust (TRT): Facilitates conservation initiatives in northern Kenya.
NORTH AMERICAN WATERSHED ORGANIZATIONS
American Rivers: Works to protect National Wild and Scenic River System and prevent large new dams.
Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM): Promotes management of wetland resources.
Audubon: Aims to conserve and restore natural ecosystems and habitats.
Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries: Maintains a global center for rivers and estuaries.
Center for Watershed Protection: provides technical tools for protecting US streams, lakes and rivers.
Clean Water Action: Helps protect America’s waters, public health and environmental future.
Clean Water Network: Supports clean water, wetlands, and the Clean Water Act.
Ecology Society of America: Promotes the science of ecology.
Environment America: Advocates new laws and policies to mitigate climate change.
Environment Canada – National Water Research Institute (NWRI): Generates scientific freshwater knowledge.
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF): EDF works with businesses, governments and communities on scientific solutions.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Responsible for protecting US water resources from water pollution.
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS): Works to protect fish, wildlife, plants and habitats.
Garden Club of America: Members work to protect watersheds via education and civic conservation.
Inter-American Water Resources Network (IWRN): Partnerships promote education and technology to support water-resource management.
LightHawk: Completes over 700 flights a year documenting North and Central America environmental issues.
National Rural Water Association: Works to reduce water waste and inefficiency with the EPA.
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF): Protects clean water via national and regional programs.
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Uses lawyers, scientists and other professionals to protect US waterways.
Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC): Protect natural treasure via property securement.
North American Lake Management Society (NALMS): Forges partnerships to foster protection of lakes.
Riverkeeper: Protects the Hudson River Basin and safeguard’s NYC’s drinking water.
Trout Unlimited (TU): Works with others to rebuild the resiliency of watersheds.
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE): Develops and maintains US water resources.
Waterkeeper Alliance: Supports advocates in over 100,000 miles of global rivers, stream and coastlines.
The Wilderness Society: Co-founded by Aldo Leopald, works to protect public land.
Wildlands Network: Works in Canada, the US and Mexico to help mitigate climate change effects.
Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y): Seeks to ensure the Yellowstone to Yukon region as an interconnected web of life.