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Water mismanagement in the Southeast and Southwest and damaging projects along the Gulf Coast pose the most serious threats to U.S. rivers, an advocacy group said in a report today.
Water mismanagement in the Southeast and Southwest and damaging projects along the Gulf Coast pose the most serious threats to U.S. rivers, an advocacy group said in a report today.
The Catawba-Wateree River in North and South Carolina topped the list of the 10 most endangered U.S. waterways compiled by the group American Rivers. The states are trying to draw more water from the river, rather than focusing on conservation and smart development, the group warned, adding that the Carolinas were not alone.
"All across the country, water mismanagement is on full display as politicians resort to placing another straw in their rivers, or outright stealing water from their neighbors, instead of adopting water policies that will make our communities more resilient in the face of global warming," said Rebecca Wodder, the group's president.
Second on the list: the Rogue River in Oregon, which the group says is threatened by logging. The group is urging Congress to pass legislation granting Wild and Scenic River protections to 98 miles of the Rogue's tributaries and designate unprotected roadless areas as wilderness areas.
The group also lists the Cache la Poudre River in Colorado, the Minnesota River in Minnesota, the St. Johns River in Florida, the Gila River in New Mexico and Arizona and the Niobrara River in Nebraska as at risk for losing significant amounts of water.
The group also criticized an "antiquated management plan" for a dam on the St. Lawrence River in Canada and development pressures on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in Maine. It also cited the Army Corps of Engineers for a "massive development scheme" that would damage the Pearl River in Louisiana and Mississippi.
"These ten rivers are at a crossroads," Wodder said in a statement. "The choices made by local and national decision makers will determine not only the rivers' future, but the future of America's fresh water resources."
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