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Stories in Alabama

Healthy Waters

We are working to secure clean and abundant waters for all Alabamians.

October 03, 2024

A man wearing a blue shirt casts a fishing line out into water.
Little River Canyon A man casts a fishing line out into the water at Little River Canyon in Alabama. © The Nature Conservancy/Hunter Nichols

Our rivers, streams and wetlands form a vast circulatory system in Alabama. They connect Mobile Bay to the Cahaba, and Alabama to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond.

Alabama's waterways are also choked by dams and sediment runoff that block the veins and arteries of this complex natural system. These are the most ecologically diverse rivers, streams and wetlands in the United States, but they also lead the nation in aquatic extinctions.

Alabama's Waters are Unique

  • Blue water droplet icon.

    10%

    Of freshwater resources in the continental U.S.

  • Blue icon depicting a fish.

    20

    Fish species found nowhere else in the world.

  • Blue icon representing water waves.

    132,000

    Miles of rivers and streams.

A calm river flows through a colorful forest.
Paint Rock River The Paint Rock River Valley is located in Alabama. © TNC/Hunter Nichols

Our Goals for Alabama's Waters

TNC works with our partners in Alabama in pursuit of the following freshwater conservation goals:

  1. Complete full-scale river assessments and use results to compel decision-makers to invest resources that address threats to waterways and restore our waters for nature and people.

  2. Implement restoration projects in priority watersheds that reduce pollution and make our rivers and streams more resilient.

  3. Demonstrate to decision-makers that green infrastructure can reduce the negative environmental impacts of stormwater, reduce non-point source pollution and reduce sedimentation, while costing less than traditional methods of flood control.

  4. Help aquatic species migrate by removing or managing instream barriers to create more connected and resilient stream and river systems.

  5. Support the incorporation of science-based instream flow studies into Statewide Water Policy and other mechanisms to protect ecologically appropriate flows in priority rivers.

  6. Share knowledge, expertise and science, both nationally and internationally, on freshwater projects in priority

Our Freshwater Projects

The Nature Conservancy is embarking on ambitious plans around the state to pursue natural solutions for securing clean and abundant water for all Alabamians. 

A small boat moves through a broad river.

Reconnecting Rivers

Ecologically reconnect the Cahaba and Alabama Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico to allow native migratory fish to once again reach important spawning grounds.
A gray and green turtle rests on a log.

Preventing Erosion

Conduct bank stabilization and sediment abatement projects in the beautiful and diverse Paint Rock River near Huntsville.

Farm fields reach all the way to a passing river.

Protecting Farmland and Water Quality

The Farm Bill helps Alabama farmers protect their lands from streambank erosion and while maintaining and improving the water quality in three biologically significant systems: the Paint Rock River, the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River and Big Canoe Creek.
A calm river flows through a densely forested landscape.

Securing Key Freshwater Habitat

The Holdfast Collective, the grant-making arm of the apparel brand Patagonia, made a gift in 2024 that allowed TNC to acquire a nearly 8,000-acre tract where the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers join known as the Mobile Delta’s Land Between the Rivers.

  • Case For Support

    Alabama is the center of the world’s biological diversity of freshwater invertebrates and the continental center of diversity for many other plants and animals. There are hundreds of species in Alabama that are found nowhere else on Earth.. Help us with the critical work of conserving Alabama.

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Support our efforts to secure clean and abundant water for wildlife and and local communities in Alabama.

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Shrimp boats in Bayou la Batre. Fishing boats are docked in a line along a narrow bayou.

Lightning Point Shoreline Restoration

A public-private partnership in Alabama has come together to restore Bayou la Batre's waterfront with breakwaters, wetland restoration and more.

A wall of rock with a dramatic series of waterfalls flowing into a waterbody below.

Our People: Experts in Action

Meet some of the people who are working to create lasting solutions in Alabama and around the world.

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