The purpose of this essay has been to investigate how a water conservation association has charted the level of pollutants in the river Viskan and how the association has worked to clean the river of said pollutants. For the results of the essay, archives have been studied. This association has worked with cleaning and charting the river from 1961 up until 2007. The results showed that the association investigated problems with the water quality and established a few actions to clean the river through cooperation. In conclusion, in accordance with the theory ‘Environmental governance’, the association worked to prevent pollution through cooperation with the state, the market and other nongovernmental organizations, as well as with different actions such as development of water treatment plants and an establishment of different investigations for pollutants. The cooperation consisted mostly of financial contributions from the state to the association and coordinated recipient controls between the association and the industries of the city Borås.