Columbia, SC (WLTX) You could call it an "urban oasis," Columbia, South Carolina, where three rivers converge in the heart of the city.
"53 miles of the Congaree [River], the lower Saluda right here, and also the 30 plus miles of the Broad. So 90 miles of river total. If you add in tributaries, you end up with about 2,000 stream miles, portions of five different counties, and a population of about 600,000 people," says a young-looking 30-somthing man as he sits on the bank of the Saluda River.
Throughout these vast waterways, you'll find this one man, taking on the task of protecting our most precious natural resource, our water.
"It's all based on this fundamental idea that water is a common good, that these waters belong to each and every one of us, and no one should be able to damage them so the rest of us can't use them," he says.
His name is Bill Stangler, but he's known locally as The Congaree Riverkeeper.
We're all searching for what drives us, what we're passionate about, Bill Stangler is passionate about clean waterways, and he has been preparing for the Riverkeeper job for years, though he might not have always known.
Stangler says, "I was going to school at USofC. I got a degree in geography, and I was focusing on river research and ecology. I was doing river research. restoring Rocky Shoals Spider lilies, which are these rare, beautiful flowers we have on the Broad River. Doing research on climate change impact for the national park, and flows on the Broad River and Southeastern River, and I was also working as a river guide part time. So when this job kind of came up it mixed all these different things that I was working on and doing and cared about so much. Really it was a friend of mine that said hey, isn't this job made for you? So I applied and they hired me."
He's found a home here on the midlands rivers, after traveling most of his life.
"I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, moved to Stockholm, Sweden, lived there for several years. [I] moved to Virginia right outside D.C. for a couple of years. [I] spent three years in the Philippines in Manila, and then moved to North Carolina. I've actually been in Columbia, it's the longest I've lived anywhere, now, I've been in Columbia for 12 years.
Stangler is the third person to hold the distinction of Congaree Riverkeeper, however, he is the first one to be full-time, and fully paid.
"We had an awesome guy named Allen who started to organization. He and I worked as river guides together. We used to finish river trips and go sit on the rocks of the Congaree and talk about how we could build this organization. He left to go teach public school, because that paid better," says Stangler.
There are Riverkeepers all over the world. They try to get together at least once a year to come up with new ideas and trade stories. There are some that have a harder time with their conservation efforts than others.
Riverkeeper recalls, "I was sitting next to a guy named Nabil, who's a fantastic guy and he looked at me and said are you really complaining about that? and I forgot for a second who i was sitting next to; Nabil is the Upper Tirris Riverkeeper in Iraq... his job is a little bit harder than mine most days."
But they all are of the same mind; that water is our most valuable resource. Here in the midlands, we're blessed with it in abundance, and we need to be taking care of it above all else.
"I work for the citizens right here in the midlands that care about clean water and healthy rivers. We have all of this right here, and it's a huge part of our quality of life, and so it's incredibly important that we protect this resource," says The Riverkeeper.
If you don't care about our waterways, maybe it's time to start. Because one man can't do it alone forever.