This blog was written by Jeff Odefey, American Rivers; Shanyn Viars, American Rivers; Janet Clements, Corona Environmental Consulting; Caroline Koch, WaterNow Alliance

American Rivers, Corona Environmental Consulting, and WaterNow Alliance are delighted to congratulate the first Green Infrastructure Funding Academy cohort on their completion of this in-depth funding and financing training series. Unbowed, and perhaps even further motivated, by this volatile period in utility management and in the face of uncertain local conditions, participants came together over the past six months to gain a deep understanding of stormwater credit trading and debt financing structures and opportunities. The cohort included representatives from Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District; Tuscon, Arizona; Greensboro, North Carolina; Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Cook County, Illinois; Eugene, Oregon; Atlanta Department of Watershed Management; Sheboygan, Wisconsin; San Mateo County, California; Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District; and Green Bay, Wisconsin—cities and utilities across the country representing a diversity of stormwater challenges and perspectives.

In five workshops, the Academy curriculum covered a range of issues informed by the participants’ unique and common stormwater management and green infrastructure implementation challenges. Building from an initial convening to find common ground around key goals and expectations, we launched into a series of monthly web-based workshops that covered the fundamentals of stormwater credit trading and essential information related to using debt financing for green infrastructure projects. Through these sessions, staff from the partner organizations and outside experts led discussions into the feasibility of both approaches, and the detailed, often arcane essentials related to economic, legal and tax considerations.  In addition, in recognition of the summer’s civil unrest surrounding racial injustice and police brutality, the group convened for an optional program on equity and water. Finally, in October 2020, the Academy culminated in a two-day conference that allowed us to devote considerable time and attention adding detail to earlier topics and exploring other issues of concern. These longer sessions brought Academy participants together with industry leaders, academic experts and community advocates in a unique and rewarding opportunity for small group conversations. 

While the cohort’s stormwater challenges ranged from flooding to combined sewer overflows to compliance with MS4 permits, a few common themes emerged over the course of the Academy. The group grappled with ongoing operation and maintenance concerns and heard about opportunities to support local workforce development as a possible solution. Participants shared their concerns about the cost of administering a stormwater credit trading program and learned of ways to streamline that process. The cohort reviewed the legal, accounting, and tax implications of using municipal bonds to finance green infrastructure investments on private property and gained insights into the types of projects that can be part of a stormwater system.

With the Green Infrastructure Funding Academy now at a close, we have four key takeaways. First, as the Academy organizers, we are not only grateful for our participants’ thorough engagement and interest in these issues but are also impressed by their eagerness to learn—from Academy presenters as well as each other—and consider new approaches to age old challenges. Second, alternative financing methods allow municipalities to fully capture the multiple benefits of green infrastructure including job growth through green/blue careers, increased walkability, reducing urban heat island, among many others. Third, collaboration between agencies, NGOs and community leaders is important to achieving stormwater goals and fostering climate resilient cities. Finally, scaling adoption of green infrastructure will not only take creative market-based approaches and capitalization of private property investments but also identifying stable operation and maintenance funding. 

American Rivers, Corona Environmental Consulting,  and WaterNow Alliance look forward to hosting future green infrastructure workshops and working with communities as they continue to build sustainable, resilient water management solutions. If you’re interested in participating in a future workshop or learning more about stormwater credit trading or debt-financing, please feel free to contact Jeff Odefey at jodefey@americanrivers.org for inquiries to American Rivers or Caroline Koch at cak@waternow.org for inquiries to WaterNow Alliance. 

Saturday, October 24th is World Fish Migration Day, a one-day global celebration of migratory fish and open rivers. Every day is a good one to celebrate and advocate for connected rivers, and as spring runs of migratory fish are making their way up river it is a particularly good time.

Many species of fish migrate between freshwater and salt water as a key part of their life-cycle. Some fish, such as well-known species of salmon, spawn in freshwater and then migrate out to the ocean where they grow to be adults, returning to rivers to spawn. Still others do just the opposite, like the American eel, living their adult lives in freshwater and returning to the open ocean to spawn. Their paths are as diverse as the fish themselves. West coast Chinook salmon have been tagged traveling as much as 3,500 miles, while some east coast river herring are content to travel a few miles upstream to a freshwater pond for spawning.

It isn’t only the ocean-going fish that need to move. Fish that live the entirety of their lives in freshwater also move between different types of habitat throughout their lives, accessing tributaries, the floodplain, and the main channel. These fish are persistent in their efforts. Brook trout at one study site in western Massachusetts have been recorded repeatedly attempting a 2-foot leap into a metal culvert in order to access a small side tributary protected from larger fish in the main channel.

We don’t make it easy on the fish to get where they are going. On most rivers dams stand in their way, blocking access to upstream habitat and creating challenges navigating downstream. Levees separate channels from nursery floodplains. Roads-stream crossings disrupt habitat connectivity even at the small scale.

Without access to vital habitat, fish populations decline. We need to support efforts to reconnect and keep connected rivers through removing unnecessary dams, reconnecting floodplains, managing our water use, and managing hydropower for sustainable rivers. And that is what World Fish Migration Day is all about.

Celebrate connected and healthy rivers with us. Keep an eye on our social media. Find a World Fish Migration Day event close to join at http://www.worldfishmigrationday.com/.

This article first appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

For decades, the neighborhoods of Peoplestown and Summerhill have suffered from flooding and sewage overflows, exacerbated by the stormwater runoff from nearby highways and parking lots surrounding the former Olympic Stadium. When it rains, the stormwater rushed over the pavement, overwhelming aging water infrastructure and causing health risks and property damage. It’s the type of longstanding environmental injustice that communities of color face here in Atlanta and nationwide.

The area, the headwaters of Intrenchment Creek, is a tributary to Atlanta’s other river, the South River, and was once covered in trees and lush vegetation. The soil could naturally soak up rainwater, and the creek could shrink and expand with the seasons and storms. Fast forward to today: downtown’s high-rise buildings, the State Capitol, sprawling parking lots and highways dominate the headwaters. So when we — with our many local partners and community leaders —began to confront the challenge of modern-day flooding and sewage overflows, we looked to nature for lessons. To restore clean water and the healthy hydrological function of the watershed meant designing solutions including “bioretention” cells — or large rain gardens—to capture and infiltrate stormwater, as well as plantings to filter pollutants.

The project was completed in the spring and is the first of its kind in Georgia — the Georgia Department of Transportation’s first-ever green infrastructure retrofit. We’re thrilled with the result. The two bioretention cells east and west of the Capitol Avenue bridge will infiltrate 750,000 gallons of stormwater runoff from the highways annually. The landscaped rain gardens will provide ongoing beautification to the area and, if scaled, could go a long way toward enhancing this gateway to Atlanta. And to gauge the success of the project long-term, the University of Georgia is assessing the amount of runoff reduction and monitoring bacteria and nutrient levels in the stormwater discharge.

This project is part of a larger effort on the part of the Intrenchment Creek One Water Management Task Force, a partnership of local community leaders, environmental justice advocates at Atlanta-based ECO-Action, government agencies, businesses, and the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management. The aim? To address flooding and sewer overflows and secure community benefits. The project was made possible with $400,000 of GDOT funding, a $197,745 grant from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and support from Central Atlanta Progress and the Turner and Kresge Foundations. And the project will continue to thrive with ongoing maintenance provided by Central Atlanta Progress.

This investment will pay dividends for years to come. A new report by American Rivers, “Rivers as Economic Engines: Investing in Clean Water, Communities and our Future”, details the jobs and economic benefits of investing in this kind of water infrastructure and river restoration. It also makes the case for a federal investment of $500 billion over the next 10 years to benefit clean water and healthy rivers. That kind of investment would benefit Georgia and communities nationwide. Such an investment could mean more successful efforts like those in the Intrenchment Creek headwaters.

Here in the heart of the city, we’re showing how the issues of clean water, community strength, equity and justice are interconnected, and how the only way forward is by working to address these issues together.

Today, the Trump Administration officially put forward a proposal to build the Yazoo Pumps – a shockingly irresponsible project that will put tens of thousands of people at risk, threaten the integrity of the Clean Water Act, and degrade hundreds of thousands of acres of globally significant natural resources.

The Yazoo Pumps was vetoed under President George W. Bush in 2008 because it would drain or damage globally significant wetlands in the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta, the historic Mississippi River floodplain north of Vicksburg, MS. Despite the veto, the Trump Administration is proposing the move forward with constructing the Yazoo Pumps under the auspices of “flood control.” However, the project will actually increase flood risk for most people living and working in the area.

Communities in the Yazoo River batture land north Vicksburg, MS will see a lot more water as much as 9 billion gallons of water will be pumped into the Yazoo River every day during flood events. Just downstream of the pump’s proposed location, the International Paper Mill has two wastewater treatment ponds in the Yazoo River floodplain that are protected by low berms. Should those berms give way, the residents in downstream Vicksburg, MS could be flooded with toxic water from the paper mill’s treatment ponds.

And, horrifyingly, the Yazoo Pumps would actually threaten to flood the very people it is falsely touted to protect. By pumping an additional 9 billion gallons of water per day into the Yazoo River during flood events the project would actually threaten the integrity of the Yazoo Backwater Levee. This levee was within inches of overtopping during the 2019 Flood. If the Yazoo Backwater Levee fails, the entire Mississippi-Yazoo Delta would flood, threatening more than 41,000 people and almost 19,000 structures.

The decision by the George W. Bush Administration to veto the Yazoo Pumps safeguards vital wetlands in the Delta National Forest, Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and countless other conservation areas in the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta. These wetlands represent some of the last remaining bottomland habitat that is still partially connected to the Lower Mississippi River and provide critical habitat to hundreds of fish and wildlife species. The Mississippi-Yazoo Delta is in the heart of the Mississippi River flyway – a migration corridor that conveys a vast array of migrating species traveling the globe.

• Millions of birds use the area during their fall and spring migrations. This includes 20 percent of the nation’s duck population!
• American eels migrate from their breeding grounds in the mid-Atlantic Sargasso Sea to North American rivers, using floodplain wetlands, like those in the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta, to grow and mature on a rich diet of frogs and insects.
• Even tiny ruby-throated hummingbirds and monarch butterflies can be spotted loading up on nectar-rich flowers before flying across the Gulf of Mexico to their over-wintering grounds in South and Central America.

In addition to migrating species, this area is important to several at-risk species, including the federally-threatened wood stork, the federally-endangered pallid sturgeon, the federally-threatened American alligator, and the state-endangered Louisiana black bear. The Louisiana black bear is the species renown for inspiring the Teddy Bear. President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot one that had been tied to a tree on the banks of the Big Sunflower River in the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta – the very same area at risk today! The bear was recently removed from the federal threatened and endangered species list thanks, in part, to reintroduction efforts in the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta.

While President George W. Bush’s administration vetoed the project because of the catastrophic environmental impacts, it’s not just fish and wildlife who need these wetlands. The Mississippi-Yazoo Delta is also a critically important aquifer recharge zone for the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer, part of the Mississippi Embayment, which provides drinking water for 8 million people in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Irrigation withdraws from this aquifer system to support cotton production in the southern states has already caused some of the most severe groundwater declines in the U.S. The Yazoo Pumps would siphon off water from wetlands that are critically important for the aquifer’s recharge, potentially exacerbating the region’s already significant groundwater depletion.

The Clean Water Act veto authority has only been used 13 times since the Act was authorized in 1972 to protect and restore the nation’s water resources. This decision to build the Yazoo Pumps, if allowed to proceed, would neuter the Clean Water Act veto authority and raises the specter of the 12 other projects that have been vetoed. This includes projects like Spruce No. 1 Surface Mine – one of the largest mountain top removal project ever conceived – and the Two Forks Dam – one of the largest water storage projects ever proposed in the West.

The Yazoo Pumps is a shockingly irresponsible project. Instead of building the Yazoo Pumps, investment is needed in projects and programs that will protect people from flood losses. These alternatives include buying out homes, elevating or flood-proofing infrastructure, and purchasing wetland easements from farmers. Local leaders need to work with state and federal agencies to find long-term affordable housing for poor residents who may be displaced to avoid climate change fueled flooding. Investing in these economic and sustainable options would provide financial security for residents while protecting and enhancing the valuable natural resources of the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta.

Take action today and tell the Trump Administration not to build the Yazoo Pumps!

If you know baseball, you are probably familiar with the strategy of “batting cleanup.” For those less acquainted with the sport, the cleanup hitter is a strong player who bats when the bases are loaded, creating the opportunity for several runs to be scored on one hit. American Rivers has been the cleanup hitter in the West Branch Susquehanna River headwaters, with three dam removals recently completed that reconnect 63 miles of aquatic habitat. 

The West Branch Susquehanna headwaters were once effectively devoid of aquatic life due to the discharge of acid mine drainage from more than a century of widespread coal mining that fueled the Industrial Revolution. They’ve since been revived thanks to our partners’ significant and effective water quality investments. American Rivers’ recent investment in aquatic connectivity has reconnected these healthy waterways for wild brook trout and other river resident species, including Pennsylvania’s official amphibian, the Eastern Hellbender.

The West Branch Susquehanna springs from near the village of Bakerton in Cambria County and flow due north for about 30 miles until it confluences with Chest Creek at Mahaffey. There it shifts to a northeasterly path across Pennsylvania’s Appalachian Plateau and gradually arcs south to join the Susquehanna River near Sunbury. The West Branch and its tributaries are the historical range for species such as trout, shad, herring American eel, and freshwater mussels, whose lifecycle is intertwined with these fish.

In the early 2000s, Cambria County Conservation District, Trout Unlimited, and the West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Coalition invested heavily in reversing the impacts of abandoned mine drainage in the watershed. Active and passive mine treatment systems, along with coal refuse cleanups totaling more than $30 million, have spurred a remarkable water-quality rebound in the headwaters. The Conservation District also completed award-winning habitat enhancements in the leveed section of Chest Creek through Patton to support trout accessing this reach of altered waterway. 

Because American Rivers had prioritized dam removal projects in watersheds with abandoned mine drainage-treatment successes, the Upper West Branch Susquehanna and Chest Creek rose to the top of our project selection process. 

In 2015, we identified two obsolete dams on Chest Creek as restoration targets, followed by a third unknown, unpermitted dam on the mainstem West Form in 2017. Eckenrode Mills Dam was removed in 2017 with both Garmantown Mill and Patton Dams removed in 2019. American Rivers owes project success to the steadfast assistance of numerous partners, including Cambria County Conservation District, Trout Unlimited, PA Fish & Boat Commission, Chest Creek Watershed Alliance, PRIDE of Cambria County North, and multiple landowners.  

Anecdotal information from local anglers shows that wild trout are already accessing the newly-reconnected stream reaches, and hellbender are becoming more plentiful as well. We anticipate that upcoming fish surveys will confirm these early findings. American Rivers will be returning to the site of the former Patton Dam in 2020 and 2021 to restore a riparian wetland that was previously drowned by the impoundment behind the dam. This effort will improve habitat and water quality while reducing the impacts of local flooding. Local partners are now working to expand water and land recreation trails in the watershed, to provide additional aquatic habitat improvements in Chest Creek, and to promote the Upper West Branch Susquehanna River and Chest Creek as outdoor recreation destinations.

Our “batting cleanup” approach to dam removal in the Upper West Branch Susquehanna watershed has proven that once water quality impacts are addressed, habitat reconnection will return fish to their historic range. We will continue this model approach for river restoration in other watersheds, and continue building partnerships that build on the benefits of free-flowing rivers.

American Rivers was founded nearly 50 years ago, in 1973, to fight construction of new dams and protect our nation’s remaining wild, free-flowing rivers.  We have carried on those fights ever since – and we have expanded our focus. American Rivers has been instrumental in sparking a national, and now global, movement to restore rivers by removing dams.  And for decades, we have worked with the hydropower industry to reform how dams are operated in order to minimize their harmful impacts.

For the past two and a half years, American Rivers has participated in the Uncommon Dialogue, convened by the Woods Institute at Stanford University. The dialogue brought together representatives of the hydropower industry and the conservation community to find common ground on the role of hydropower in addressing climate change while also restoring free-flowing rivers. 

We’re at a pivotal moment and it is critical that we find solutions. Hydropower dams have devastated river health nationwide, with significant negative impacts on rivers, fish and wildlife populations, and cultural resources. There are also serious safety issues with dams, as evidenced by the failure of Michigan’s Edenville Dam in May. At the same time, climate change is threatening life as we know it on our planet. We must be proactive in ensuring a mix of energy sources that don’t rely on dirty fossil fuels – and that includes hydropower.

Recently, participants in the dialogue agreed on a Joint Statement of Collaboration in which the parties agree to continue to work together to make progress in seven areas:

1. Accelerate Development of Hydropower Technologies and Practices to Improve Generation Efficiency, Environmental Performance, and Solar and Wind Integration

2. Advocate for Improved U.S. Dam Safety

3. Increase Basin-Scale Decision-Making and Access to River-Related Data

4. Improve the Measurement, Valuation of and Compensation for Hydropower Flexibility and Reliability Services and Support for Enhanced Environmental Performance

5. Advance Effective River Restoration through Improved Off-Site Mitigation Strategies

6. Improve Federal Hydropower Licensing, Relicensing, and License Surrender Processes

7. Advocate for Increased Funding for U.S. Dam Rehabilitation, Retrofits and Removals

In addition to American Rivers, parties to the Joint Statement include American Whitewater, Hydropower Reform Coalition, and National Hydropower Association.

In agreeing to the Joint Statement of Collaboration, American Rivers recognizes that hydropower can be part of the solution to climate change. At the same time, the hydropower industry is recognizing that the time is ripe for removal of obsolete and unsafe dams which restores free-flowing rivers.

The Joint Statement of Collaboration does not mean that American Rivers and the hydropower industry will see eye to eye on everything. American Rivers is fighting efforts supported by the hydropower industry to weaken Clean Water Act protections for rivers. We are working with tribes and conservation partners to ensure that Pacificorp lives up to its commitments to remove four dams on the Klamath River in California and Oregon and install fish passage improvements on another dam it operates on the Lewis River in Washington. By signing the Joint Statement of Collaboration though, American Rivers hopes that such conflicts will become less frequent as we build greater trust. American Rivers is continuing our role as pragmatic problem-solvers, seeking some common ground with the hydropower industry where it will advance our goal of removing obsolete and unsafe dams to restore healthy, free-flowing rivers and employing every tool available to fight the existential threat of climate change.

Even in turbulent times, rivers are a constant.  

Their clean, free-flowing waters nourish our bodies, spirits and communities. Their lush habitats safeguard birds, fish and wildlife. They connect us to our history, to our future, to each other.  

Today, we celebrate our nation’s Wild and Scenic Rivers. Fifty-two years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, establishing a system of protection for rivers with outstanding values. A Wild and Scenic designation is the strongest protection a river can receive, and means the river is forever protected from dams or other harmful development. 

Wild and Scenic Rivers are national treasures – rivers like the Upper Delaware, Middle Fork Salmon, Rogue, Rio Grande and Chattooga. 

To honor the 50^th anniversary of the Act in 2018, American Rivers and our partners set a goal to protect 5,000 new miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers and 1,000,000 acres of riverside lands, and to build a river conservation legacy. Thanks to you and supporters nationwide, we’re well on our way to victory – we’ve protected more than 1,800 miles of our 5,000 miles goal, and 500,000 acres of land.  

The movement to keep our nation’s rivers free-flowing is growing, as well. Campaigns across the country are working to protect an additional 5,000 miles of rivers in states including North Carolina, Tennessee, Montana and Oregon.  

Congressional champions including Senators Udall and Heinrich of New Mexico, Senator Wyden of Oregon, Senators Murray and Cantwell of Washington as well as U.S. Representatives Huffman and Kilmer are championing Wild and Scenic protections in Congress totaling over 1,300 miles.  The Gila In New Mexico, the Owyhee in Oregon, portions the Trinity River watershed in California, and the rivers flowing off of the wild Olympics in Washington State would be protected under pending legislation. 

But we have much more work to do – not only to protect clean water and healthy, free-flowing rivers, but to demand safe, equitable access to rivers and the outdoors for all. To ensure communities of color can take the lead crafting river protection solutions that impact their futures. And to listen and learn from Indigenous leaders who have been stewards of our rivers since time immemorial. 

Upon signing the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act on October 2, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson said, “Every individual and every family should get to know at least one river.” 

Today, I hope you follow President Johnson’s advice and get out to enjoy a river near you, while wearing a mask and maintaining social distance of course to protect your family, friends and community. 

Take a moment to appreciate all we’ve accomplished for Wild and Scenic Rivers, together. And join us as we embark on a new era of river protection, advancing a vision of clean water and healthy rivers everywhere, for everyone. 

Change starts with small actions and when combined can have a big impact! This is where you come in. You can prevent trash from getting in the river and keep our waters clean and healthy for people and wildlife.

Trash is more than just an eyesore. It’s harmful to wildlife and contaminates rivers, which provide 60 percent of our drinking water. Any trash you see whether on the sidewalk or in a ditch is likely to end up in your local stream or river.

Here are 3 ways you can take action:

1. Join our virtual cleanup challenge with Litterati 
Help us achieve our litter reduction goals using Litterati, a mobile app that allows user to photograph, upload and tag litter in their area. Participate in our challenge while you walk your dog, spend the day at the park, or while loading the groceries in your car. Together, we can capture and discard more pieces of litter.

2. Take the River Cleanup Pledge
Commit to picking up one piece of trash every day for one month.

3. Organize a small, private cleanup
This cleanup can happen anywhere at any time, it’s up to you. Register your event with us and we’ll ship you free trash bags. 

Litter Collection Tips:

1. Go to a public space like a park, creek or trail in or near your neighborhood to find litter.
2. Carry a bag to collect the litter.
3. Practice social distancing of at least 6 feet between you and others not in your household.
4. Wear a face mask and gloves.
5. Only pick up trash that you’re comfortable collecting. Place sharp objects like broken glass in a solid container and safely dispose it in a trash bin.
6. Dispose litter on-site if available or at your house.

Oregon and California are having their worst wildfire seasons on record causing incredible devastation, tragic loss of life and measurable public health threats from smoke. Because of the most recent fires I have friends, family members, and colleagues who have lost their homes. As the fires still burn, we all must support grieving and dislocated communities and the firefighters risking their lives.  

Living in Portland, my wife and two kids have luckily been spared the worst of the impacts, but like millions of people on the west coast have experienced days or weeks of toxics air quality advisories. According the monitor nearest to our house our air quality was literally off the charts, above the EPA’s “Hazardous” air quality category for three days. Because of health concerns for our young kids we left the city and headed to find clean air at the Oregon coast. Unfortunately with the effects of climate change, these events seem to be becoming routine.  

Fire has always been a natural part of the landscape in the forests across our region, but we are now in a new era of “megafires.” On our National Forests, a century of forest fire suppression, the push to grow high densities of trees in large plantation-like mono-cultures, and especially, changing climatic conditions have led to drier and hotter weather patterns and created more combustible conditions. The larger and hotter forest fires that result can have significant impacts on forest health, rivers, water quality, and local communities. 

In Oregon, the worst of the most recent fires occurred in the watersheds of some of the highest value rivers, the McKenzie, the Molalla and North Santiam that are designated as national Wild and Scenic Rivers. These rivers provide drinking water to communities downstream, provide habitat to abundant salmon and steelhead runs, and supports outstanding upland and instream recreation. Once the fires are out, these rivers are likely to look, very different and like the communities along their banks will need our help. 

Thankfully Wild and Scenic River designations and associated river management plans allow for flexibility to prepare and fight fire for the benefit of people and the river itself. As communities work to protect their rivers as Wild and Scenic in Oregon and elsewhere, we must adopt up-to- date fire preparedness and wildfire fighting strategies into river management plans.  

Congress is weighing in as well and is already considering strategies to combat these kinds of fires on public lands. Senators Ron Wyden, Maria Cantwell and Joe Manchin have introduced a commonsense bill, the National Prescribed Burn Act of 2020, to expedite the use of prescribed burns that mimic natural processes to reduce fire risk before fires start—exactly the kind of scientifically sound and proactive approach we need that would help reduce risk and improve watershed health.  

We should be wary of other proposals that are using wildfires as a way to blame federal land managers and repackage bad ideas simply to log more without environmental review which would harm rivers and not even reduce fire risk in areas that need it most, where wildlands and developed areas meet or wildland urban interface.  

The science on the effects of logging on the fragile post-fire landscape clearly shows dramatic increases in the amount and duration of harmful sediment in streams and rivers compared to watersheds that are left alone to recover.  Some simple rules can help reduce harm to water quality and salmon habitat. This includes staying away from streamside areas and staying off of steep slopes prone to soil erosion and landslides that once triggered can dump too much sediment into streams over an extended period of years. It is vitally important to avoid creating new roads and decommission any temporary roads that are often the largest contributor to harmful amounts of stream sediment. 

As we craft responses to future wildfires that will inevitably occur, we must better integrate sound fire preparedness strategies into our existing conservation tools while staying committed to protecting the most valuable natural resources that come from our forests: clean drinking water, fish and wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation.  

Here in Oregon, the good news is that it’s started to rain.  

Is your river facing a decision in the coming year that will impact its fate? America’s Most Endangered Rivers® is the most influential national campaign to galvanize public action and secure victories for rivers, clean water and communities. Every year, American Rivers, an environmental non-profit, generates a report and media blast on 10 rivers at a crossroads where an upcoming action could make or break the future health of the river. We are now accepting nominations for our 2021 report from interested groups throughout the United States. 

We have been working hard this year to continue to spread the word about threats facing our nation’s rivers throughout the year, and the response has been great. If you didn’t get to see our 2020 report, please go to: https://endangeredrivers.americanrivers.org/.  

To nominate a river, please complete the MER 2021 Nomination Form to be found here: https://forms.gle/Zz8KsDxEsVwuH5RE7

Due Date:  Friday, November 13, 2020

The 10 rivers selected as America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2021 will be spotlighted in a report in April 2021 that receives national media and advocacy. Partners will also receive comprehensive communications, outreach and advocacy partnership from American Rivers to motivate real change for rivers at risk.

Your river is eligible if it meets the following primary criteria:

•    The public can influence a decision in the coming year that will impact the river’s fate

•    The river holds deep meaning to people and nature

•    The magnitude of threat to the river and its communities is significant, especially in light of a changing climate and/or environmental justice

American Rivers would especially like to highlight rivers where there are river-related threats that impact equality and justice. We hope that if you know of such a place where a decision on a river issue could impact a marginalized community, that you consider submitting a nomination.

Learn more about American Rivers and the America’s Most Endangered Rivers® campaign here and also visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

If you have additional questions about our process this year (or have trouble with the nomination form), please contact us at outreach@americanrivers.org.

From coast to coast, communities across the country are feeling the impacts of too much – or not enough water at the right time. Drought and record-breaking wildfires have plagued the West this summer. In the last month, over 5 million acres of land has burned in California, Washington and Oregon. These wildfires are uprooting communities, causing serious health issues and when the smoke finally clears, leftover debris and toxic runoff could pollute our rivers and impact drinking water supplies. Conversely, on the East Coast and the Midwest, significant flooding has occurred. This year we’ve seen 20 tropical storms, 6 of which have turned into hurricanes. Crashing into the coast, storm surges are causing catastrophic flooding and torrential rainstorms are impacting communities far beyond the coast. Along the Upper Mississippi, an unusual derecho covered hundreds of miles and brought significant rainfall and wind damage to the region.

While you can’t directly point the finger at climate change for any one weather event, scientists have found that climate change is increasing the frequency, intensity, and impacts of extreme weather events. On top of that, climate change is shifting where and when water is available. Precipitation is becoming more variable and uncertain, leading to more frequent and more intense floods and droughts. The impacts associated with a changing climate are exacerbating existing challenges facing our country. America’s rivers and water infrastructure have been neglected and abused for decades. Too many people in our country lack access to safe, clean affordable water — two thirds of which comes from rivers and streams. Centuries of poor river management has degraded ecosystems and disconnected communities from their rivers. Many of these inequities fall disproportionately on Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other marginalized people. As communities begin rebuilding, we must address longstanding social and environmental injustices, and ensure our communities and infrastructure are more resilient in the face of a changing climate.

Clean water infrastructure and healthy rivers are smart investments for communities across the country. They create stronger, more resilient communities and contribute significantly to local economic growth and job creation. The Value of Water Campaign estimated that every $1 million spent on water infrastructure in the United States generates more than 15 jobs throughout the economy. Similarly, the University of Oregon found that every $1 million invested in watershed restoration creates 16 new or sustained jobs on average. Healthy rivers also spur tourism and recreation, which many communities rely on for their livelihoods. The Outdoor Industry Association’s National Recreation Economy Report found that the outdoor watersports and fishing economy supports over 1.5 million jobs nationwide.

Earlier this summer, American Rivers released a new report,  Rivers as Economic Engines: Investing in clean water, communities and our future detailing how the right investments in water infrastructure, natural infrastructure and river restoration can create jobs, strengthen communities and address longstanding injustices. While Congress has made some initial investments in healthy rivers and water infrastructure including the recently passed Great American Outdoors Act, more action is needed. We are calling on Congress to invest $500 billion over 10 years to create the transformational change we need when it comes to ensuring clean water and healthy rivers for everyone.

We have a historic opportunity to revitalize our communities, make our infrastructure more resilient, and ensure healthy rivers and clean water for everyone. Investing in water infrastructure and healthy rivers creates jobs and economic benefits, strengthens our communities, improves public health and safety, addresses longstanding injustices, and improves our environment.

Tell Congressional leadership that investing equitably in clean water infrastructure and healthy rivers is a top priority. Take action to support game-changing investment in water infrastructure and healthy rivers – and ensuring it goes to communities most in need.

September 18, 2020

The thunder and lightening woke me up. After ten days of wildfire lockdown in Portland, the rain this morning is a giant relief. Since the fires started in Oregon, the air quality has been terrible — “beyond hazardous” the index says — so the limited pandemic excursions to walk our dog, go to the park, ride bikes with my boys had stopped. Now, maybe, we can go outside again.

My family is fortunate. The fires have burned more than a million acres and ten people have died. Many in our river community — American Rivers partners, friends and supporters — have had to evacuate. Many across our state have lost homes. So many beloved rivers, forests and communities have been impacted — the Little North Santiam. North Umpqua. Clackamas. McKenzie. Rogue. Klamath.

I’ve been reading in the news about other devastating stories linked to climate change — the fires in Brazil, the birds dying in New Mexico, the hurricanes threatening the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It’s easy to slip toward despair. 

But I keep coming back to a quote by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson:

“Even though there is so much we can’t save, the other side of that is there is so much that we still can save. So, who are we to give up? What gives us the right to give up on the planet and each other? …  It’s truth, courage and solutions. That’s what’s going to get us there.”

What can we save? We can start by saving a river.

I’m thinking about the Middle Fork Nooksack, where American Rivers and our partners just removed a dam. We set the river free, restoring habitat so we can bring back salmon runs — salmon that are vital to the Nooksack Indian Tribe and Lummi Nation, and desperately needed by starving Southern Resident Killer Whales. A new orca calf, J57, was born earlier this month to Talequah. That’s the mother orca who captured headlines across the region two years ago when her calf died and she carried it for weeks. It was heartbreaking. Now, there is a new calf. A new chance. Let’s hope that our efforts to restore the Nooksack and other rivers, like the lower Snake, will support J57 and the whole web of life of which we are all a part.

“Truth, courage and solutions,” Dr. Johnson says. The river conservation community is full of all three.

These fires have made me even more determined — to protect our rivers, to demand action on climate change, and to fight for communities hardest hit by environmental injustice and climate disasters. We have no right to give up on the planet or each other. I’m all in, for my boys, for my niece, for this beautiful place we call home, for rivers, for all of us.

Here in the Pacific Northwest and on rivers nationwide — there is still so much we can save.