Riverkeeper

What is a Riverkeeper?

Riverkeepers work to protect the public’s right to clean water by:

Patrolling local waterways
Tracking down sources of pollution
Responding to citizen pollution complaints
Identifying problems that impact water quality
Advocate for environmental laws and regulations to ensure clean water

A Riverkeeper strives to be the voice of the water body that they work to protect, preserve, and restore. Riverkeepers advocate compliance with environmental laws, respond to citizen complaints, identify problems which affect their identified bodies of water and devise appropriate remedies to address these problems. Riverkeepers/waterkeepers can be found around the globe. There are currently 17 waterkeepers on the Chesapeake Bay.

Elle Bassett - South, West, and Rhode Riverkeeper

Our South, West, and Rhode Riverkeeper is a member of Waterkeepers Chesapeake on the regional level and Waterkeeper Alliance at the national and global level. Most importantly, Riverkeepers advocate compliance with environmental laws, respond to citizen pollution complaints, identify problems which affect their identified bodies of water and devise appropriate remedies to address these problems.

Riverkeeper Areas of Focus

Environmental Legislation

Tracking River Health

Community Advisors

Report a Problem

Riverkeeper News

May 2026 Riverkeeper Report

Thank you to everyone who joined us at Homestead Gardens last Thursday where we unveiled our 2025 River Report Card for the South, West, and Rhode Rivers. If you were able to join us, please take this short event survey to provide us with valuable feedback on how to make this event and the data presented better every year. Based on data collected during the 2025 monitoring season, the South River earned a score of 52%, the West River earned 53%, and the Rhode River earned 49%

Arundel Rivers Federation

May 21

2025 River Report Card Released for the South, West, and Rhode Rivers

Arundel Rivers released the 2025 River Report Card at a public event at Homestead Gardens this week. Based on data collected throughout the 2025 monitoring season, the South River earned a score of 52%, the West River earned 53%, and the Rhode River earned 49%—giving all three rivers an overall grade of C. Each year from April through October, our monitoring team, led by Elle Bassett, collects water quality data across the watershed to better understand the health of our rive

Arundel Rivers Federation

May 15

What We Can’t See Is Hurting Maryland’s Waters

Maryland is grappling with a serious but largely invisible source of water pollution — and this week, the Maryland Senate is allowing a critical opportunity to better manage failing septic systems slip out of reach. In the aftermath of Senate floor discussions about important septic legislation, some lawmakers questioned whether pollution from septic systems is truly a problem — framing it as overblown, or even suggesting that septic systems are a simple, well-understood infr

Arundel Rivers Federation

Apr 14