May 8--LAKE WYLIE -- After a decade dedicated to protecting the Catawba River, the "handful of dreamers" who started it all are back at it again. The next goal: 10 years of more participation and more advocacy than the river has ever seen.

The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1997, begins its yearlong celebration of 10 years fighting for water and water users along the Catawba by setting its sights even higher. "A handful of dreamers started 11 years ago, really, hoping that people in the community could come together to fund, hire and pay for a full-time guardian of the water body," said Catawba Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby. "We have come a long way since then." Since being hired in early 1998, Lisenby has seen the organization grow from a few interested residents to a network of volunteers, benefactors and advocates stretching the length of the 225-mile Catawba.

An initial budget of $70,000 has grown to $405,0 0. Covekeeper programs, consisting of volunteers monitoring their waters for pollution and environmental violations, now cover five lakes including Lake Wylie. "I don't know that we had a 10-year plan in mind," said Gene Daniels, treasurer for the foundation living on the Mecklenburg County side of Lake Wylie, and original "dream team" member. "It was sort of something where I was flying by the seat of my pant . We just though it's a great idea, let's work on it." The group is not satisfied, though, with its current growth. At various times, volunteers have worked as business manager, assistant Riverkeeper and volunteer coordinator.

By increasing annual giving from $200,000 to a targeted $400,000, the organization would be able to fund a Riverkeeper, assistant Riverkeeper, business manager and development director. "The Catawba River has 1,735 miles of shoreline," Lisenby said, estimating that 15-20 calls each week come in from people wanting something investigated. "There's no way one person can protect that large an area." Earlier this year an anonymous donor pledged a $50,000 matching grant to the group that can be unlocked in $1,000 increments of new giving. More than $10,000 already has been unlocked, with the challenge ending Dec.

31. "The individual is interested in making sure the Catawba River always has a voice," Lisenby said of the donor. Accomplishments Since its inception, the Riverkeeper Foundation's accomplishments stretch the distance of the river. Early years were spent fighting textile mills dumping dyes into the South Fork River, or "Rainbow River" as it was then known. The foundation also won a 2004 suit mandating that Wal-Mart not store potentially harmful chemicals outside near drinking water supplies. "I think there's a whole lot more awareness of the importance of clean water," said Sue McCauley, a Lake Wylie member for six years.

The most impressive achievement, though, comes with each member, Lisenby said. Covekeeper programs on lakes Wylie, Norman, Hickory, Wateree and Mountain Island Lake continually provide "eyes and ears" along the water for the foundation, she said. "It's one of our proudest accomplishments," Lisenby said. Land development, in many areas, has changed as Riverkeeper members advocated for more environmentally-friendly construction. Much of the credit, McCauley said, goes to Lisenby for her tireless efforts that are gaining recognition from developers and pl nners. "When you tell me never, that's like waving a little red flag," Lisenby said.

Political role Recently, the foundation has been part of political efforts impacting water along the river. The group participated in Duke Energy's hydroelectric relicensing effort for about three years ending in 2005. The foundation ultimately decided not to sign the final agreement negotiated by stakeholder groups throughout the region, but worked up until that point to secure water flows, public water access and marine conservation efforts. "That's our job to advocate for as much as we can to protect the river," Lisenby said. "It's other people's jobs to compromise and negotiate to get things done." The group also is leading opposition to an interbasin transfer of water from the Catawba approved in January by North Carolina.

Counties along the river heard presentations from the foundation, with many passing resolutions against the withdrawal. At tw public meetings, an unprecedented 1,300 attended. "There is no replacement for the Riverkeeper Foundation," said Rick Lee, foundation member and York County councilman. "It is an uncompromising advocate for water issues. Without a strong voice, we couldn't do what we do to protect the water." Lisenby also is personally involved with legislation working its way through North and South Carolina Legislatures to protect the area from future interbasin transfers, having written much of the language on some.

"Water is not a partisan issue," she said. "Republicans and Democrats need clean water equally." Challenges With several advocacy and research programs, the greatest challenges for the foundation are similar to ones faced by most nonprofits -- more people and more money are needed. Steve Johnson, head of the Lake Wylie Covekeepers for York County, said increased training makes new covekeeper experts in water monitoring and protection. The problem for the group of about 30 members, though, is having the manpower to keep eyes on the lake. "It's a task to keep the personnel up," Johnson said. As more people move into the area and toward the water, it becomes important for the foundation to attract new members, Daniels said.

Whether the group is able to achieve its goals during the next decade is almost directly related to new membership. "I'm pleased at where we are, but our real critical need is more grassroots support from people who live along the river," Daniels said. "This organization is dependent on the people of the community. Without the community, we can't succeed." box Through the years Some key events of the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, according to www.catawbariverkeeper.org: 2006 • Launched the fifth Covekeeper Program on the Catawba River with 21 Lake Hickory Covekeepers successfully completing our intensive environmental advocacy training course • S.C.

Sen. Wes Hayes appointed Catawba Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby to co-chair and lead an ad hoc committee that will draft comprehensive water supply regulations for the state of South Carolina • Led eleven counties, eight cities, three Marine Commissions and the South Carolina General Assembly as they took action to oppose one the largest interbasin transfer requests in the history of North and South Carolina proposed by the cities of C ncord and Kannapolis 2005 • Advocated for the protection of our Catawba River water availability for the future by unifying basin-wide opposition to a 38 million gallon per day interbasin transfer petition under consideration in North Carolina • Featured in a nationally distributed documentary film called "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" The film chronicled our 2004 actions to have harmful substances to our waters stored and protected properly in area Wal-Mart stores • Established an Assistant Catawba Riverkeeper with a target of supporting existing and expanding the Keeper programs • Protected Lake Wylie from further sedimentation through investigating and reporting violations by a major development that led to the removal of accumulated sediment at $50,000 expense to the contractor and fines in excess of $16,000.

2004 • Settled the lawsuit with Crescent Resources, creating a new 2900 acre state park on Lake James that will be protected from development into perpetuity and establishing even greater environmental protections for the remaining 4000 acres of develo able land on Lake James • Stopped Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, from illegally storing herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers in parking lots where rainwater was washing pollutants that cause birth defects and other reproductive harm into public drinking water upplies of the Catawba River • Responded to and investigated fish kills and algae blooms on Lake Norman, Lake Wylie and Lake Wateree 2003 • Published two years of water quality research from our water quality monitoring program on the South Fork Catawba River and Lake Wylie 2002 • Successfully leveraged passage of The Palisades requirements and the Catawba River Water Quality Symposium to create a new countywide policy guiding future development in Mecklenburg County called the Water Quality Framework 2001 • Negotiated statutory improvement to Mecklenburg County buffer zone regulations for Lake Wylie • Investigated and reported raw sewage spills from Carolina Water Services, sparked 3 month investigation and inspection of 31 lift stations by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control • Created and led the Steele Creek Task Force in response to a four mile fish kill due to an extended raw sewage spill after a contractor blasted too close to a manhole, the developer and landowner were fined by over $10,000 by the state of NC and the maximum fine allowed by the state of SC, marking the first time fines for water quality violations were levied by both states and one of the few times anyone was fined for sewage spills in Mecklenburg county 2000 • Uncovered an illegal straight pipe from a Charlotte restaurant that had been dumping raw sewage into Lake Wylie for years, resulted in a $9,000 fine 1999 • Established a water quality research program by purchasing of state of the art water quality monitoring equipment and contracting with a research director, Dr.

Peter Phillips, an aquatic ecologist at Winthrop University to manage the program • Uncovered evidence that a major developer had knowingly installed a raw sewage lift station below the high water mark of Lake Wylie and submitted permits to the Corps of Engineers that grossly underestimated wetland impacts, as a result of evide ce presented by the Riverkeeper, numerous stop work orders were issued and regulatory agencies levied a $78, 000 fine, the highest ever levied against a developer in SC 1998 • Established the first Covekeeper Program on Lake Wylie, a trained citizen group that advocates for river preservation in their local communities • Secured two boats and started regular patrols of the Catawba River • Initiated the Riverkeeper Hotline which responds to more that 100 calls per year for assistance • Tackled the South Fork Catawba River's decades-old textile mill pollution problem by organizing downstream residents and preparing a federal clean water act case against North Carolina