Hackensack Riverkeeper works to protect, preserve and restore the Hackensack River and its watershed. Hackensack Riverkeeper is the independent, non-governmental advocate for the Hackensack River. Founded in 1997 and a member of the international Waterkeeper Alliance, Hackensack Riverkeeper is the leading environmental organization dedicated to preserving, protecting and restoring the Hackensack River Watershed. Our mission is carried out through a combination of advocacy, action, education and enforcement strategies – all of which support and complement each other. Advocacy involves monitoring potential threats to the watershed and working with policy makers; Action includes conducting River Cleanups, riparian restoration projects and encouraging river-based recreation; Environmental Education includes an extensive array of field programs and a comprehensive outreach to schools, community groups and the general public; and Enforcement entails HRI taking on the role of citizen-steward, working with applicable enforcement agencies and when necessary, engaging in litigation. Our mission and our work reflects the complexity of our watershed: the lower reaches impacted by decades of pollution, and its upper reaches providing potable water to over one million people in New Jersey and New York. As such, Hackensack Riverkeeper is the only advocate positioned to address the problems and interactions of the entire watershed.