The Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC) is a left-of-center activist group that promotes environmentalist advocacy within the United States and abroad in Central and South America. The group was previously listed as providing legal assistance and other services to activists and organizations that protested the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline.  ^{1  2  3}

The radical-left National Lawyers Guild is a substantial funder of the Water Protector Legal Collective through its charitable arm, the National Lawyers Guild Foundation. In 2024 NLGF provided a $215,339 grant; it also provided $215,339 in 2023 and $348,825 in 2022. ⁴

Background

Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC) was founded in 2016 to provide legal assistance for activists protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. Since its creation, the group claims to have provided legal support in additional Indigenous activist movements within the United States as well as in Central and South America.  ¹

From 2016 through 2022 the WPLC listed itself as a social-welfare organization on its 990 tax forms. Since 2022 onwards, tax forms have reported WPLC is a charitable organization. ⁵

Financials

For the fiscal year ending in September 2023, the Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC) reported $869,155 in revenue, all stemming from contributions and grants. It did not report any government funding. ⁶

It reported $605,406 in expenses, of which $456,530 was spent on salaries and compensation and $36,556 on payments for travel or entertainment for federal, state, or local public officials. It ended the year with a surplus of $263,749 and net assets of $273,097. ⁷

The radical-left National Lawyers Guild is a substantial funder of the Water Protector Legal Collective through its charitable arm, the National Lawyers Guild Foundation. In 2024 NLGF provided a $215,339 grant; it also provided $215,339 in 2023 and $348,825 in 2022. ⁴

Activities

The Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC) has previously provided legal assistance and other forms of aid to activist groups and movements tied to indigenous and environmental advocacy in both the U.S. and international locations such as Central and South America. ²

The group has previously submitted reporting on environmental and community issues before the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee and the UN Human Rights Council. Reports include data on the impact of Private Military Security Contractors (PMSC) on indigenous communities as well as the 2021 detention of controversial attorney Steven Donziger in Ecuador while providing legal assistance for Amazon-based communities impacted by Chevron. The organization also provided legal assistance and other services for demonstrators arrested during protests against a proposed Enbridge Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota.  ²

Leadership

Natali Segovia is the executive director of the Water Protector Legal Collective, a position she has held since 2023. Since joining the Collective in 2020, she had worked in several positions with the group including as the group’s legal director from July 2021.  ⁸

1. “Home,” Water Protector Legal Collective, accessed January 19, 2026, https://www.waterprotectorlegal.org/.
2. “Our Impact,” Water Protector Legal Collective, accessed January 19, 2026, https://www.waterprotectorlegal.org/impact.
3. “Our Work,” Water Protector Legal Collective, accessed January 19, 2026, https://www.waterprotectorlegal.org/legal.
4. National Lawyers Guild Foundation. Return from an organization exempt from taxation (Form 990). 2023, 2022, 2021, Schedule I, Part II.
5. Water Protectors Legal Collective. Return from an organization exempt from taxation (Form 990). 2022, Schedule I, Part II.
6. Water Protectors Legal Collective. Return from an organization exempt from taxation (Form 990). 2023, Part I, VIII.
7. Water Protectors Legal Collective. Return from an organization exempt from taxation (Form 990). 2023, Part I, IX.
8. “Natali Segovia,” Water Protector Legal Collective, accessed January 19, 2026, https://www.waterprotectorlegal.org/ourpeople/natalisegovia.