Inland Empire Waterkeeper is a grassroots, non-profit water quality organization dedicated to enhancing and protecting the quality of the waterways within the Upper Santa Ana River Watershed. This is accomplished through four program tenets: advocacy, education, restoration, and enforcement. Established in 2005, Inland Empire Waterkeeper is a chapter of Orange County Coastkeeper, which oversees the Orange County portion of the watershed, and is a separately licensed member of the international Waterkeeper Alliance.

The Santa Ana River Watershed - OUR watershed
The Santa Ana River watershed covers approximately 2,600 square miles of San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties, and a small portion of Los Angeles County. The Santa Ana River headwaters are located in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows over 100 miles into the Pacific Ocean at Huntington Beach. Our focus is the "upper" watershed starting from Prado Dam up to the headwaters (i.e., the Inland Empire portion). The watershed includes many lakes, rivers and streams; a few of which are listed here:

• Baldwin Lake
• Big Bear Lake
• Mill Creek
• San Timoteo Wash
• San Jacinto River
• Mystic Lake
• Canyon Lake (Railroad Canyon Reservoir)
• Lake Elsinore
• Temescal Wash
• Lake Perris
• Lake Hemet
• Lake Mathews
• Diamond Valley Lake
• Santa Ana River
• Day Creek
• Lytle Creek
• Cucamonga Wash
• Prado Lakes and Wetlands
• San Antonio Creek

The Inland Empire has been under tremendous development pressure and, as a result, the natural drainage patterns of the watershed have changed quite drastically during the past 250 years. Land use activities on construction sites and residential, industrial, and commercial properties can lead to illicit or illegal discharges that impair the chemical, biological and physical health of our waterways. Not only do these discharges of trash, sediment, fuels, fertilizers, pesticides and/or heavy metals present a health risk to downstream swimmers and fishers, but they can cause real and intangible costs to society.

It is the goal of Inland Empire Waterkeeper to spur altruism and stewardship on behalf of all Inland Empire residents while also creating a balance between development interests and environmental concerns. The result will be enhanged water quality for everyone that calls the Santa Ana River watershed home.

Inland Empire Waterkeeper collaborates with cities and regulatory agencies to create practical solutions for specific water quality problems. Utilizing best available science, we conduct water sampling to identify polluters, collect evidence, and litigate when necessary to ensure compliance with the federal Clean Water Act and other California laws. Because public outreach and education is such an integral part of stopping water pollution, IEWK educates students and the public about their role in their watershed. IEWK engages residents of Inland Empire communities in hands-on stream habitat restoration projects which facilitate IEWK's holistic approach to watershed protection.

With the support of Orange County Coastkeeper, our full-time professionals include legal, policy, and governmental relations staff; a biologist, a chemist, a GIS specialist, as well as education, communication, and support staff. In addition, our internship program utilizes the skills of many local college and law school students. Our financial support comes from generous donations of individual contributors, corporations, foundations, and state scientific research grants.