1. Missouri River (MT, ND, SD, KS, IA, NE, MO): dams, channelization to support uneconomic commercial navigation: To support navigation, the Army Corps of Engineers has waged a 50-year-long campaign to manage and control this once wild, dynamic waterway. As a result, the river has been dramatically altered; it has been shortened by almost 130 miles, and it is now one-third its original width. In addition, 98-percent of sandbars and islands are gone, and one-fifth of the river's native species are endangered. The end result of these efforts: a handful of barge operators now ship an infinitesimal amount of grain -- one-tenth of one percent of the grain grown in four states (Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska) along the Missouri.
2. Upper Hudson River (NY): PCB contamination: The Upper Hudson River is believed to be the largest PCB contamination site in the U.S., the source of which is General Electric Company (GE). PCBs are distributed over 190 miles of the Hudson River in river bottom sediments. New studies show that our 20-year policy of leaving the PCBs in place in the river has failed; PCBs are still being released into the environment, damaging the river, and threatening public health and safety.
3. White Salmon River (WA): hydroelectric dam: Threatening one of the gems if the northwest is one dam, the Condit Dam built in 1913, which is the only barrier to migrating fish in the White Salmon. After a 50-year-long free ride, the dam owner still refuses to either install fish passage or remove the dam and has actually threatened to require to do so. As a result, the White Salmon is known as the river with the "deadbeat dam."
4. San Joaquin River (CA): floodplain development, agricultural run-off: Despite record floods this year, commercial and residential development in the floodplains has resumed -- even on sites that were under water during the recent flooding. More than 58,000 homes are planned or under construction in flood-prone areas. Billions of tax dollars are being misspent on flood control projects while losses rise because of rapid urbanization in flood-prone areas. Flood losses from the 1997 flood, the costliest in California's history, may top $2 billion.
5. Wolf River (WI): proposed mine: The Wolf, one of the last wild riverways in the Midwest and a part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, faces imminent and permanent ruin by a huge proposed zinc/copper mine. Often called one of Wisconsin's most beautiful rivers, the Wolf is threatened by an estimated 44 million tons of mine waste laced with mercury, lead, zinc, arsenic and sulfuric acid.
6. Pinto Creek (AZ): proposed mine: Cambior, Inc., a Canadian mining company with a notorious environmental record, including the 1995 mining disaster in Guyana, is proposing to open a copper mine literally in the middle of Pinto creek, one of the last intact stream systems left in the Sonoran desert.
7. Potomac River (WV, PA, MD, VA, DC): run-off from industrial poultry production, cattle, feedlots, suburban development: Held up as a river restoration success story, the Potomac faces two major threats: 1) the widescale expansion of industrialized poultry farms -- which support 95 million birds -- and cattle feedlots in the Potomac headwaters. This industry threatens local drinking water supplies and potentially the drinking water for the Washington, D.C. area; and 2) Chapman's Landing: a proposed residential and commercial development which would convert riparian forest into a sprawling city the size of Annapolis, the capital of Maryland.
8. Mill Creek (OH): named the Most Endangered Urban River because of urban run-off, industrial waste: The most endangered urban river in the country, Mill Creek is one of the best examples of death by a thousand cuts. It is threatened by run-off from toxic waster sites, city streets and sewage overflow. The state of Ohio now wants to downgrade the formal status of the river, effectively saying the river has no value and no restoration potential.
9. Lower Colorado River (AZ, NV, CA): dewatering to service growing urban populations: The Lower Colorado is falling victim to the rush by southwest states to replenish depleted water supplies as population explodes and agricultural needs increase throughout the area. For the first time, demand for water will exceed the river's supply, stripping the fragile ecosystem of much of the water that sustains it. As surrounding states vie for the Colorado's waters, the needs of fish and other aquatic species are often ignored.
10. Tennessee River (TN, AL, MS, KY): TVA's elimination of environmental responsibilities: Important watershed protection efforts of the Tennessee River will end if the Tennessee Valley Authority succeeds in eliminating its environmental responsibilities so that it can compete in a new de-regulated electricity marketplace. These responsibilities have been part of the TVA's mandate since 1933.
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