Officials from seven municipalities say they're worried their water isn't clean, and they feel there is power in numbers if they work together.

Riverkeeper says local communities have invested a lot of money in water treatment after it reached the plants like the one in Poughkeepsie -- but not for water treatment beforehand.

The idea is that if seven waterside communities -- the city and town of Poughkeepsie, the village and town of Rhinebeck, and the towns of Esopus, Hyde Park and Lloyd -- and others can work together, they may be able to have an edge on getting state funding.

"For source water protection, and for water infrastructure. Improving and repairing our sewage treatment plants, repairing our drinking water plants, upgrading our drinking water plants," said Riverkeeper Water Quality Program Director Dan Shapley.

There are about 100,000 people within the riverside communities who rely on the Hudson River for their drinking water.