On April 25th, the Spokane Riverkeeper is excited to announce the return of the Wild and Scenic Film Festival at the newly renovated Garland Theater in Spokane, Washington. This On Tour event is their 10th annual screening of environmental films that feature nature’s beauty, current issues affecting our planet, and heart-warming stories. This year all the featured films are about water.
In 2009, the Spokane Riverkeeper was formed as a project of the Center for Justice by a small group of lawyers fed up with polluters abusing the Spokane River. Over the years, their work stopped numerous forms of pollution and set the initiative on getting the Spokane River cleaned up and protected.
Spokane Riverkeeper is a vigilant guardian and advocate for the Spokane River and its watershed. The mission of the Spokane Riverkeeper is to protect the river’s ecological health, vibrancy, and aesthetic integrity, as well as the healthy connections that communities have to the river now and into the future. They use the Clean Water Act as a primary legal tool for their work, as the Act gives communities legal protections for a fishable and swimmable Spokane River and foresees the ultimate end of water pollution. They use education and collaboration as a primary way of communicating the values of and protecting the Spokane River. As a member of the international Waterkeeper Alliance movement, Riverkeeper’s first priority is to defend the river against pollution and hold all polluters accountable.
The Spokane Riverkeeper, with help from Spokane Fall Trout Unlimited, leads a community science monitoring project to study water transparency (turbidity) in Hangman Creek and the Spokane River. They also monitor water temperature in the Spokane River and Hangman Creek during the hot summer months. Additionally, they partner with the University of Idaho to monitor crayfish for mercury in the Spokane River. They also conduct frequent public river clean up events.
The Spokane Riverkeeper was one of the leaders of the Water Resources Collaboration Group developing conservation and drought response guidance that informed the Spokane City Council as they then considered codifying water conservation options and protect river flows that support a fragile population of redband trout and the Upper Columbia Tribal visions and actions of restoring chinook salmon to the basin.
The Spokane Riverkeeper focusses on the restoration, improvement, and protection of shoreline habitat (stream-side vegetation). Shoreline forestation and vegetation are essential in keeping the river clean and the water temperatures cool It also decreases the effect of negative sediment loading.
