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Chautauqua-Conewango Consortium becomes new Waterkeeper affiliate

Submitted Photo Kayakers are pictured on an excursion on a local waterway.

The Waterkeeper Alliance, a nonprofit solely focused on clean water, has welcomed the Chautauqua-Conewango Consortium as a new Waterkeeper affiliate.

The Waterkeeper Alliance connects and mobilizes more than 300 Waterkeeper groups. Melanie Smith, a local resident and Roger Tory Peterson Institute employee, will serve as chair of the Chautauqua-Conewango Consortium, leading work to preserve the entirety of the Conewango Creek watershed.

“The Chautauqua-Conewango Consortium will have an incredibly important job,” said Marc Yaggi, executive director of Waterkeeper Alliance. “Waterkeeper Affiliates defend their communities against anyone who threatens their right to clean water, from law-breaking polluters to irresponsible government officials. Until our public agencies have the means necessary to protect us from polluters, and the will to enforce the law, there will always be a great need for people like the Consortium to fight for our right to clean water.”

The Chautauqua-Conewango Consortium will be an advocate for Conewango Creek, its lakes and its tributaries, working to protect and restore water quality through community action and enforcement.

“Our Waterkeeper Affiliate’s aim is to provide strong advocacy that will result in clean water for all citizens, whether they rely on it for drinking or recreation and to maintain the ecological integrity of the waterways within the Conewango Creek watershed,” Smith said.

The Chautauqua-Conewango Consortium is sponsored by the Conewango Creek Watershed Association. The consortium will work on water-related issues affecting the water bodies included in the Conewango Creek watershed. Water bodies include Chautauqua, Cassadaga and Bear lakes, the Chadakoin River and Cassadaga Creek in New York, as well as all of the headwaters and the main stem of Conewango Creek in Pennsylvania.

For more information about the global organization visit www.waterkeeper.org.

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