Kentucky Waterways Alliance

To celebrate Give for Good Louisville Day of Giving KWA is launching our award-winning River Cowboys Documentary online for free public viewing , and along with it an environmental education curriculum for teachers to use the River Cowboys film in the classroom as a teaching tool and to inspire their environmental stewardship in their students. Click on the video above to watch the 12 minute documentary. The educational curriculum is a available here.

These are challenging times for clean water in Kentucky, and we need your help to keep fighting the good fight! This year, both federal and state legislators, along with the E.P.A., have eliminated and weakened protections of our waterways and our drinking water. These assaults make KWA'S mandates to protect, restore, and celebrate our waterways even more critical. And we haven't backed down.

Since January 2025 we have:

• Removed two deadly low dams, one on Elkhorn Creek and one on the Cumberland River.
• Monitored regulations and permits.
• Provided septic repair and replacement programs in the Red River and Red Bird River watersheds.
• Screened our award-winning River Cowboys documentary across the United States to promote awareness about tire pollution in our waterways.
• Developed a tire pollution reporting tool the public can use to report waste tires in waterways to aid in tire removal efforts.
• Advocated successfully for the passage of Kentucky Senate Resolution 238 to explore and implement strategies to remove waste tires from Kentucky’s streams and waterways.
• Met multiple times with state and federal elected officials to advocate for sound water policy. 
• Galvanized tens of thousands of people across the Commonwealth to speak up in protest of SB89 legislation that reduces protection of drinking water.
• Funded seed grants to help local groups restore their waterways.
• Published a magazine featuring a Q&A with Silas House, Kentucky's former poet Laureate and voice for clean water.
• Celebrated the Red River by hosting Red RiverFest and a concert featuring The Local Honeys.
• Defended Environmental Justice.
• Co-hosting the 2025 Ohio River Basin Confluence Summit
• Removed thousands of pounds of trash from Kentucky waterways as part of the Commonwealth Sweep program.
• Provided opportunities to community members who historically have had limited access to waterways through the Commonwealth Splash program.
• Responded to dozens of concerned citizen calls about water issues.
• Testified about the impact of Data Centers on waterways and the environment.

Kentucky Waterways Alliance believes all people have a right to clean water. We want our children's children to be free to wade in creeks, swim in rivers, fish in lakes, experience the joy of discovering a crawdad, and even drink from a faucet, unburdened by worry that their water might not be safe.

KWA is a member-driven organization. We work together with partners, including state and federal agencies and local watershed groups, to bring about change through advocacy, restoration projects, education, and volunteer clean-ups.  

We invite you to join us by making a donation today!

Visit us at kwalliance.org.  #kentuckyiswater #wateriscommonwealth