Ventura Coastkeeper is one of over 110 Keeper organizations that operate globally under the Waterkeeper Alliance, created and  headed by Robert Kennedy, Jr. (Note: Steve Fleischli, formerly the Santa Monica Baykeeper, now serves as Executive Director of the Waterkeeper Alliance at their Tarrytown, New York headquarter.)

A keeper is a full-time privately funded, non-governmental ombudsperson whose special responsibility is to be the public advocate for regional waters. The Keeper organizations fill the gap between water pollution laws and the government's ability to enforce them. Keepers fight on a daily basis to protect the health of coasts, rivers, bays, deltas and sounds, and are probably most well known for our willingness to use the courts to enforce environmental laws if necessary. Keeper programs employ a variety of strategies to enforce environmental laws including conducting water quality monitoring, participating in coastal planning, educating the public and devising solutions to water quality problems, and if necessary pursuing litigation as a final step to enforcement.

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