Splash and Sprint: All Out Open Water Swim w/ DCAC

Our History

Potomac Riverkeeper, Inc. was based in 2000 by a gaggle of local people members who noticed the necessity for stronger enforcement of federal, state, and native clear water protections in native rivers by way of grassroots advocacy and authorized motion. Riverkeepers are the eyes and ears of the rivers, the voice of the rivers, and the consultants within the rivers, defending the general public’s rights to wash water. Encompassing the abilities of scientists, lecturers, regulation officers, fishermen, and paddlers, Riverkeepers mix a profound information of their waterway, matched with a relentless dedication to defending clear water and the rule of regulation.

Ed Merrifield was employed in 2003 as the primary Potomac Riverkeeper and President of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network. In 2006, Jeff Kelble was employed because the Shenandoah Riverkeeper, and in 2010 Brent Walls joined the group as Upper Potomac Riverkeeper. Ed Merrifield led the inspiration in its early phases to their first successes together with submitting the primary enforcement actions towards polluters and testifying earlier than Congress on the intersex fish downside that was plaguing the Potomac River in 2006. Ed retired from being President on the finish of 2012, and in 2014 Jeff transitioned to be President and Riverkeeper.

In 2015, Potomac Riverkeeper Network was fashioned when the group employed two new Riverkeepers: Mark Frondorf, Shenandoah Riverkeeper, and Dean Naujoks, Potomac Riverkeeper in addition to Phillip Musegaas, Vice President of Programs and Litigation, to supervise its increasing docket of authorized actions. The ensuing group, PRKN, is the only real nonprofit combining evaluation, advocacy, authorized motion, and group engagement to cease air pollution within the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.

After a number of extra years of development and success defending clear water within the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers and their tributaries, Jeff left Potomac Riverkeeper Network, and in 2018 Nancy Stoner, one of many nation’s most skilled water coverage consultants, joined the group as the brand new president, and, together with the board of administrators, has helped PRKN broaden and deepen its attain all through the watershed.