Black Warrior Riverkeeper has announced a new partnership with the City of Birmingham to help clean streets where rain will otherwise carry litter into storm drains, then local creeks, and ultimately the Black Warrior and other area rivers and streams. AmeriCorps member Katie Fagan, will manage two volunteer street cleanups each month, starting Saturday, January 23, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Space is limited to maintain social distancing, so if you are interested in volunteering, register here for cleanups shortly after each is posted.

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

The organization patrols waterways, educates the public, and holds polluters accountable to maintain clean water throughout the basin. The staff identifies and addresses pollution problems while increasing public awareness.

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.

Visit the Black Warrior Riverkeeper website to learn more.