In its 39th year of putting out the nation’s most endangered rivers list, conservation group American Rivers again calls attention to the most imperiled rivers in the U.S., with waterways in New Mexico topping this year’s compilation.
New Mexico is the state hardest hit by a recent Supreme Court ruling that left virtually all of the state’s streams and wetlands vulnerable to pollution. This federal action opens the door to potential harmful downstream impacts to the Rio Grande, Gila, San Juan, and Pecos rivers. “Without this river, we would not be able to survive,” says Vicente Fernandez, acequia mayordomo and community leader in New Mexico.
Over the years, American Rivers’ campaign has helped stop pollution in the Buffalo National River, and it helped protect the Boundary Waters from mining. It played an important role in protecting Wyoming’s beautiful Hoback River, and it has contributed to dam removal efforts from the Penobscot to the Klamath to the Eel.
“All water is connected. We cannot allow pollution anywhere without risk to the rivers we rely on for our drinking water,” said Tom Kiernan, President and CEO of American Rivers. “Our leaders must hold polluters accountable and strengthen the Clean Water Act to safeguard our health and communities.”
Other rivers in America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2024 annual report shines a spotlight on threats to such waterway as:
- Tennessee’s Duck River, a drinking water source and hotspot for biodiversity, is at risk from excessive water withdrawals
- California and Mexico’s Tijuana River, is choked with pollution causing illness and beach closures
- California’s Trinity River, a vital source of clean, cold water for the Klamath River, is at risk from water diversions
- Connecticut’s Farmington River, the drinking water source for nearly 400,000 people, is threatened by a hydropower dam causing toxic algae outbreaks
And now, not that any waterway wants to be on it, the drumroll, please, for…
America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2024:
#1: Rivers of New Mexico
Threat: Loss of federal clean water protections
#2: Big Sunflower and Yazoo Rivers – Mississippi
Threat: Yazoo Pumps project threatens wetlands
#3: Duck River – Tennessee
Threat: Excessive water use
#4: Santa Cruz River – Arizona
Threat: Water scarcity, climate change
#5: Little Pee Dee River – North Carolina, South Carolina
Threat: Harmful development, highway construction
#6: Farmington River – Connecticut, Massachusetts
Threat: Hydropower dam
#7: Trinity River – California
Threat: Outdated water management
#8: Kobuk River – Alaska
Threat: Road construction
#9 Tijuana River – California, Mexico
Threat: Pollution
#10: Blackwater River – West Virginia
Threat: Highway development
View complete report here: https://mostendangeredrivers.org