Black Warrior Riverkeeper

Pollution Standards Victory | 06/18/2025

Legal Victory Requires EPA to Reconsider Outdated Industrial Water Pollution Standards For Immediate Release: June 18, 2025 Contact: Eva Dillard, Black Warrior Riverkeeper: (205) 458-0095, [email protected] Ari Phillips, Environmental Integrity Project, (202) 263-4456, [email protected] Hannah Connor, Center for Biological Diversity, (202) 681-1676, [email protected] SAN FRANCISCO— The 9th Circuit Court of […]

Toxicity Victory | 06/17/2025

Groups Successful in Updating Toxic Pollutant Values to Protect Health of Alabamians For Immediate Release: June 17, 2025 Contact: Eva Dillard, Black Warrior Riverkeeper: (205) 458-0095, [email protected] David Ludder: (850) 386-5671, [email protected] A Petition for Rulemaking was granted on Friday by the Alabama Environmental Management Commission (AEMC) after seven conservation […]

2025 Munson Intern | 06/03/2025

UA student wins Munson Foundation scholarship with Black Warrior Riverkeeper For Immediate Release: June 3, 2025 Contact: Charles Scribner, executive director, Black Warrior Riverkeeper: [email protected], 205-458-0095 TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation has awarded Ella Kate Baker, a current student of The University of Alabama’s College of Communication […]

Backroom Deals in our Backyards | 04/24/2025

Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: Book Talk and Signing Wednesday, May 14, 2025 – 4:00 PM at The Alabama Booksmith The Alabama Booksmith and Black Warrior Riverkeeper are pleased to host author Miranda Spivack (https://www.mirandaspivack.com/), a former Washington Post reporter and Fulbright scholar, talking about her Studs and Ida Terkel Prize-winning […]

Stop Tuscaloosa’s Sewage Spills | 04/22/2025

Take Action: Stop Tuscaloosa’s Chronic Sewage Spills Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Friends of Hurricane Creek have a petition on Action Network telling Mayor Walt Maddox and the City Council of Tuscaloosa to Stop Tuscaloosa’s chronic sewage spills. The city of Tuscaloosa’s sewage system chronically overflows harmful sewage and industrial […]

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Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s mission is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. We are a citizen-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting clean water for the sake of public health, recreation, and wildlife habitat throughout our patrol area, the Black Warrior River watershed. This vital river basin is entirely contained within Alabama, America’s leading state for freshwater biodiversity.

Patrolling waterways, educating the public, and holding polluters accountable has made us an important proponent of clean water throughout the basin. Our staff identifies and addresses pollution problems while increasing public awareness. We are a proud member of Waterkeeper Alliance. Please contact us to report pollution and to inquire about volunteer projects, donations, educational presentations, or public events.

The Black Warrior River drains parts of 17 Alabama counties. The area the river drains, its watershed, covers 6,276 square miles in Alabama and measures roughly 300 miles from top to bottom. The Black Warrior River watershed is home to over 1 million residents and contains 16,145.89 miles of mapped streams. Its headwaters consist of the Sipsey, Mulberry, and Locust Forks. Once these rivers merge west of Birmingham, the Black Warrior River proper forms the border of Jefferson and Walker counties. Near Tuscaloosa, the river flows out of the rocky Cumberland Plateau and enters the sandy East Gulf Coastal Plain, forming the border of Greene and Hale counties in the Black Belt. At Demopolis the Black Warrior flows into the Tombigbee River towards Mobile Bay.