2018 was a year of wins for water! On behalf of the Waterkeeper Team, we’d like to thank you for your support and highlight some successes we’ve experienced as an organization.
- Rolled out a microplastic sampling program with our partner Labatt USA and our funder Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo
- Engaged 14 volunteer ambassadors who helped us to attend over 30 community events and support cleanups, plantings, and river tours while engaging over 4,000 citizens
- Deployed 75 volunteers at 97 regularly-sampled sites in 11 sub-watersheds and gathered over 3,000 data points in total
- Coordinated the Buffalo River AOC in delisting its first Beneficial Use Impairment in August
- Installed 15,000 new native plants and 681 new trees in effort to finish habitat restoration of 21,179 linear feet of Buffalo River shoreline
- Planted over 726 native plants and completed installation of living shoreline at Stella Niagara Preserve
- Began restoration of 300 linear feet of shoreline at Tifft Nature Preserve
- Installed 700 linear feet of mulch pathway through the Ellicott Creek project for public access
- Engaged with 626 different people who registered for river tours from 7 counties, 9 states, and one Canadian province
- Connected over 7,000 people to the water and our environment
- Deployed over 3,000 cleanup volunteers to prevent 26 tons of litter from entering our waterways – approximately the same weight as 26 great white sharks
- Graduated 20 Young Environmental Leaders from 4 different Buffalo Public Schools
- Spent hundreds of staff hours responding to citizen inquiries, writing public comments, and participating in advocacy activities that promote or directly protect fresh water
- Began the creation and restoration of new coastal wetland habitat enhancements of approximately 800 linear feet of shoreline along Beaver Island State Park (West River)
