Did you know New York is a Great Lakes State? Of course, you did! The Buffalo Niagara Region is surrounded by water, and anyone who has personal connections with Western New York has fond memories that involve our Great Lakes. Heading out to the beach for a day of paddling or boating… fishing along the shores… enjoying a sunset… turning on your faucet for a glass of water… The Great Lakes provide much more than aesthetic beauty or recreation. They fulfill one of our most basic life needs—fresh water to drink.
In fact, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario provide drinking water to 6.2 million New Yorkers. As fortunate as we are to have these two vital bodies of water in our front yard, we also bear a great responsibility to protect them. Our Great Lakes are hurting, and their health indicators are headed in the wrong direction. In 2020, our lakes still suffer from billions of gallons of raw sewage, increasing toxic algae blooms, and legacy and ongoing industrial pollution. Does that sound like water you want flowing from your faucet?
Recent rollbacks in environmental protection for our nation’s waters and new policies that favor polluting industries and activities, have collectively put our communities and health at risk. What will it take to ensure we have healthy, thriving lakes and water that supports the wellbeing of our community? Unified, citizen action. Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper has been the guardian of our region’s fresh water for over 30 years. Even in our most challenging times, our mission has remained steadfast. Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper is now leading a coalition of Great Lakes communities with a goal to remove 70 tons of trash from the Great Lakes by 2022. We are embarking on an ambitious campaign to encourage New York State to lead on protecting the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem. We will continue to advocate for state and federal resources as well as laws and policies that advance the protection of our Great Lakes. But we cannot do this alone. We cannot do this without your support.
You can make the future brighter and our water cleaner. Your gift today is an investment in protecting our water as a basic human right. < We hope you will choose to stand with us as guardians for clean water, for the health of current and future generations.
Yours for Clean Water,
Jill Jedlicka
Our bodies are made up of 70% fresh water. Please make your gift today and keep our lakes and bodies healthy.
