The Upper Watauga Riverkeeper was founded in 2007, and serves as the primary watchdog and spokesperson for the Elk and Watauga Rivers which run from their headwaters on Grandfather mountain and the Blue Ridge Parkway in western North Carolina to the dam at foot of Watauga Lake in east Tennessee. Its mission is to protect and restore the communities, water quality, and ecological health of the watershed.

The Upper Watauga Riverkeeper program is dedicated to preserving and protecting YOUR WATER from polluters. It reflects the public’s right to clean water and healthy fisheries and serves the communities of Banner Elk, Boone, Blowing Rock, Valle Crucis and Watauga Lake. The Upper Watauga Riverkeeper is a program of Applachian Voices, which now proudly advocates for environmental protection of air, forests, water and the Appalachian mountains. For more information about the other award winning environmental programs of Appalachian Voices please visit www.ilovemountains.org

To report water pollution anywhere in the Watauga or Elk River watersheds, call our toll-free water pollution hotline: 1-877-277-8642

The Watauga Riverkeeper is Donna Lisenby. She is a full-time public advocate for the Watauga River, the Elk River, Roan Creek and the Watauga Lake watersheds. She is part investigator, scientist, lawyer, and advocate. The Upper Watauga Riverkeepers “clients” are all the users of the watershed. Donna Lisenby is veteran, award winning Riverkeeper with 10 year experience. She previously served as the former Catawba Riverkeeper in Charlotte, NC. She came to the mountains of NC and Tennessee because she is excited and thrilled about the opportunity to partner with local communities to protect, preserve and restore the incredibly rich biodiversity of the Watauga and Elk River watersheds in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Waterkeeper Alliance is the international center of a network of Waterkeeper programs with 177 local Waterkeeper Programs and growing. The Upper Watauga Riverkeeper is a proud member of Waterkeeper Alliance. Waterkeeper Alliance and its member organizations around the globe spend each day protecting the waterways upon which all living beings depend. The Alliance approves new Waterkeeper programs, licenses the use of the Waterkeeper names, represents the individual Waterkeepers on issues of international interest, and serves as a meeting place for all the Waterkeepers to exchange information, strategy and know-how. The Waterkeeper program names, such as “Riverkeeper,” “Lakekeeper,” “Baykeeper,” “Coastkeeper” and others, are synonymous with effective citizen action. The effort, both to promote and to protect these names, has been organized and intentional. For more information on starting a Waterkeeper Program in your community please go to www.waterkeeper.org