Friends of the Kaw/Kansas Riverkeeper

MISSION

Friends of the Kaw (FOK) is a nonprofit, grassroots environmental organization whose mission is to protect and preserve the Kaw for all generations.
We seek to:

*advocate the rehabilitation of the Kaw’s environs, including water quality and wildlife habitat;
*to promote compatible public recreational uses of the Kaw;
*and to encourage the development of adequate public access.
*To these ends we shall seek to cooperate with other persons, organizations and public agencies.

The Kansas River - known to locals as the Kaw - is the world’s longest prairie river, with a watershed that drains over 53,000 square miles in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado. Over 600,000 people depend on the Kaw for drinking water. Since the Kaw corridor is home to 49% of all minorities living in Kansas (including 59% African Americans, 51% Asian Americans, 37% Hispanics, and 35% American Indians), the state’s minority communities are disproportionately affected by the Kaw’s water quality issues.