Join the Right to Know movement and help support the Florida Safe Waterways Act by writing or calling your legislators and expressing your support.

An Evening with Calusa Waterkeeper

Enjoy Drinks & Dialogue and a Documentary with Calusa Waterkeeper on January 12, 2022 at the Collaboratory in Fort Myers.

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Water Quality Status

Finding information about current water quality conditions can be confusing. Visit our dashboard for links to some of the key monitoring sites.

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Fighting for Drinkable, Fishable, Swimmable Water

Since 1995

Calusa Waterkeeper is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the Caloosahatchee River & Estuary in Southwest Florida. This includes Lake Okeechobee & Estero Bay, plus the near-shore waterways of Lee County. We strive to achieve this mission through education and promotion of responsible use and enjoyment by all people.

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Thank you for all that you’re doing to improve our water quality and to educate us on changes we ourselves can make to help.

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Vicky C.
Cape Coral

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I have come to value the work of the Calusa Waterkeeper and its important voice in our community advocating for cleaner water. Keep up with the good work!

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Stephen B.
Clewiston

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We appreciate all that you do for our community and water quality. Great Job! Thank you, The Jensens.

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Jensen’s Marina
Captiva

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Thank you Calusa Waterkeeper and John Cassani for all you do to educate the public about the water quality crisis we are facing in SWFL.

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Denny S.
Fort Myers

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Thanks to CWK for relentlessly using science and public outreach to fight for clean water in SW Florida! We all benefit.

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Gerri R.
Fort Myers

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I have learned so much as a volunteer Ranger with Calusa Waterkeeper. Excited to continue!

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Mark D.
North Fort Myers

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Happy to renew our membership and keep you on the front lines. Thank you for all you do.

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Scott & Christine M.
Cape Coral

Explore the Issues

Waterways around the world are under attack by pollution and mismanagement. Southwest Florida is no different.

Calusa Waterkeeper is focused on several local action items as well as regional and national issues affecting our water policy and quality of lives.

We think you’ll agree, these are causes worth fighting for.

Learn the Issues

Recent News

Proposed Law Would Warn of Poop-polluted Waters Where People Boat, Wade and Fish

Oct 27, 2021

A new bill championed by the nonprofit Calusa Waterkeeper introduced this week in the Florida Senate would close that gap in the nearly million acres of estuaries and 9,000 miles of streams and rivers the state has verified are polluted with fecal indicator bacteria.

Florida Legislators Introduce Safe Waterways Act

Oct 26, 2021

State Senator Lori Berman and State Representative Yvonne Hayes Hinson recently filed SB 604 and HB 393, termed the “Safe Waterways Act.” The legislation will require county health departments to post and maintain warning signs at additional public bathing places that have been verified impaired for enterococci bacteria by the Florida Department of Health.

Pollution Verified in Most of Southwest Florida Area’s Prized Water Bodies

Oct 24, 2021

What’s been long suspected now is official: Southwest Florida’s most cherished waters are in trouble. From Charlotte Harbor south to San Carlos Bay, a draft state report shows widespread pollution from the fertilizer nitrogen and the algae byproduct, chlorophyll. Many of them also contain unhealthy levels of fecal bacteria.