Water Rangers
SRAP’s Water Rangers Program works with rural communities to protect their right to clean water and hold industrial livestock operations accountable for pollution. We provide free water testing training and offer instruction on documenting and reporting pollution violations to local, state, tribal nations, and federal regulators.
Why Water Rangers?
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and other industrial livestock operations are among the worst water polluters in the U.S. Because they confine so many animals in one place, these facilities generate vast quantities of waste, which is typically stored onsite before being applied untreated to surrounding land.
Unfortunately, mismanagement and overapplication of waste is common, causing ground and surface waters to be contaminated with pollutants such as nitrogen, phosphorus, organic matter, heavy metals, and harmful pathogens like E. coli, Salmonella, and Cryptosporidium. This contaminates drinking water wells, causes fish kills, spawns toxic algal blooms, and renders local waterways unsafe for swimming, fishing, boating, and other recreational uses.
In short, rural residents living near industrial livestock operations are on the front lines of a water pollution crisis that threatens their health, environment, and quality of life.
Water Rangers Training
SRAP’s Water Rangers Program is designed to help communities protect their right to clean water and to hold industrial livestock operations accountable for pollution. We offer free training to teach participants to collect and analyze water samples, document pollution, and report violations to regulators in order to prompt enforcement action.
The Water Rangers Program works to build strong networks of community scientists who monitor waterways, reversing a decades-long trend of industrial livestock pollution and keeping our environment healthy one stream at a time.
Register for an upcoming training or request one for your group on our Training page!
Water Rangers is Growing
While Water Rangers will continue to offer water quality monitoring training throughout the U.S., we’re excited to announce an expansion of our efforts in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. We plan to provide state-specific water monitoring and public policy training, and will alert community members of new CAFO permits and opportunities for action.
Learn more about our state-specific trainings and resources:
Illinois
Indiana
Michigan
Ohio
Wisconsin
Resources
Visit our Water Rangers Resources page to find water monitoring resources and more.
Contact Us
Please contact us at waterrangers@sraproject.org with any questions or to learn more.