712 37th Street South, Birmingham AL 35222  ~  info@blackwarriorriver.org   ~  (205) 458-0095   Fax: (205) 458-0094

The Black Warrior River watershed (in blue) is the largest River system contained entirely in the state of Alabama.  Click to enlarge. 

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REPORT POLLUTION, PROBLEMS, OR CONCERNS TO: NBrooke@blackwarriorriver.org or (205) 458-0095

Click here to view Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER's Wish List

Click here to view Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER's upcoming events

Click here to hear Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speak about our Black Warrior River

^® is the first and only citizen-based organization dedicated to defending all 6,276 square miles of OUR watershed.  The Riverkeeper keeps polluters in line by patrolling the watershed, analyzing permits, and working with citizens, in addition to various other strategies.  If a polluter is found or suspected of violating the law, then the Riverkeeper investigates them and brings evidence to the Staff as well as our Board of Directors, which is comprised of attorneys, scientists, and businesspeople.  The Board of Directors, in cooperation with similar "Waterkeeper" programs, other environmental organizations, and various experts, create solutions to these illegal environmental problems.  Black Warrior Riverkeeper was founded in September 2001, by David Whiteside and Roger Conville.  The Black Warrior Riverkeeper and around 153 other individual Waterkeeper programs are aligned under the Waterkeeper Alliance, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is our president.  Please join us in our fight to protect the Black Warrior watershed, by becoming a member of Black Warrior Riverkeeper.

    The Cahaba and Black Warrior Rivers are the only two river systems contained entirely within the state of Alabama.  The Black Warrior Basin covers 6,276 square miles, nearly three times the size of the Cahaba basin.  Three smaller rivers, the Sipsey, Mulberry and Locust Forks, merge northwest of Birmingham to form our Black Warrior.

    The fate of Alabama's Black Warrior River was changed forever, when coal was discovered in the watershed.  "Stonecoal," was withdrawn by driving crowbars into river ledges while divers recovered falling minerals. In 1847, Tuscaloosa began experiencing rough economic times as a result of the relocation of the state capital from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery.  The city's leaders decided to supplement lost income by liquidating massive amounts of coal and iron.  However, the low water level and countless shoals of an untamed Black Warrior made it nearly impossible to transport large amounts of coal.  It required an expert to navigate through the narrow passages of the free-flowing Black Warrior; river captains and their tales quickly became local legends.

    The Black Warrior was the first river in Alabama to be severely altered by dams.  In the 1880s, the United States government announced it would build a series of dams on our Black Warrior.  By 1915, a total of fourteen locks and dams had been completed and numbered in sequence.  As the twentieth century progressed, river barges became too big for the old locks. By the 1970s, the Army Corps of Engineers replaced the older system with the current series of four locks and dams.  Our Black Warrior River still serves as a major transportation route connecting western Alabama to Mobile Bay.

    The Black Warrior is a silent giant in Alabama's economy, our river has served as a primary shipping route for the export of coal and cotton to Mobile Bay. Industries from Cullman to Demopolis have depended on our Black Warrior River for water and transportation.  The middle portion of the Black Warrior Basin has been the largest coal producing area in the Southern United States for over a century.  Approximately 17% of the Black Warrior Basin is covered by agriculture.  Cullman County is the leading county for chicken production in the U.S., "producing" 164 million chickens per year....  Click the ISSUES link on the left to learn more about the threats facing your river.

    The Black Warrior River and its tributaries are a vital source of drinking water to many people in Alabama.  Many people in Alabama fish and recreate on the Black Warrior River and its tributaries, and they deserve to have clean water for these uses.  However, the Black Warrior River often is a neglected resource that nevertheless is vital to Alabama’s citizens.  Many polluters have grown accustomed to lawlessness in the watershed due to lack of enforcement by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.  Black Warrior Riverkeeper is devoted to filling this gap by using the citizen enforcement provisions provided by federal law to bring polluters to justice.

Our water is being threatened at every angle from toxic chemicals and bacteria to erosion.  As soon as you are born, you are part owner of the water.   YOU!  Not some institution.  Join the fight to protect OUR Black Warrior River today.

Jerry Garcia watercolor: Riverkeeper

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