Around 300 people gathered at Woodbridge town quay on Saturday as the rights of the River Deben were declared in protest over the poor state of the waterway.
Organised by Save the Deben campaigners, the event saw a seven-and-a-half-mile relay from Felixstowe to Woodbridge.
Sailors passed 'the declaration of the rights of the river' from boat to boat before it was read out by guest speaker, barrister Paul Powlesland - co-founder of Lawyers for Nature - and signed by the town's Mayor, Patrick Gillard.
"Today was a drawing of a line in the sand," said one of the event organisers, Ruth Leach.
"Our river is in a bad state and we need to raise our voices.
"We need to say we're not standing for it and our rivers have rights."
Concerns have been raised over the Deben's water quality this year.
Last month, testing carried out by Ufford Parish Council found levels of E.coli well over the legal limit at a popular bathing spot by Hawkswade Bridge.
Woodbridge town councillor, Eamonn O'Nolan, has been responsible for E.coli assessments along the length of the Deben.
He said: "We have been doing regular testing from Debenham to Woodbridge and now at Felixstowe.
"We're finding high levels almost every time - including at places people take their children in the summer.
"95% of this is coming from sewage treatment plants who are not purifying the water as they could do.
"Events like this are very encouraging and people from all walks of life came along to voice their concerns."
The declaration of rights proclaimed the River Deben have the right:
- to flow freely;
- to perform essential functions within its ecosystem;
- to native biodiversity;
- to regeneration and restoration;
- to feed and be fed by sustainable aquifers;
- to maintain its connections with other streams and rivers.
"I believe that recognising the rights of nature is key to dealing with the climate and biodiversity crisis," said Paul Powlesland.
"The actions of local people and activists in declaring and upholding the rights of nature - particularly rivers - is going to be a crucial way of achieving that in the UK.
"It's about people saying it's not acceptable for companies to be putting sewage into our rivers.
"And we are going to be doing whatever we peacefully can to stop that - whether by campaigning, activism, legal challenges, monitoring or any other routes people find."
Protests at the River Stour:
Protests also took place in the south of the county on Sunday as crowds gathered on World Rivers Day to demand action over the poor state of the River Stour.
Campaigners met at Flatford Mill as part of ongoing efforts to 'Save our Stour'.
"The river - just like many other waterways in Suffolk - has failed the government water standard," said one of the organisers, Deborah Saw.
"The Stour is in a terrible state and we something needs to be done now.
"We want to see more investment in the Environment Agency, but also more pressure on the water companies to start fixing things now
"We recently took samples just beneath the sewage treatment plant at Sudbury that showed E.coli was in the water.
"On World Rivers Day, we want to celebrate our waterways but also demand better stewardship of them."
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