In December 2017, American Rivers helped remove three 100-year-old earthen and concrete dams from Hamant Brook in Sturbridge, Mass., restoring habitat for native brook trout, wood turtles, and mussels. We caught up with the project’s director, Amy Singler, to learn what inspired her about Hamant Brook and where she goes from here.

Why remove these dams?

There is an old joke: What does a fish say when it bumps its head? “Dam!” When you build a dam, fish can’t move up and down their natural habitat. By removing the dam, we restore access to habitat, as well as the ecological function of the river. Plus, a lot of old dams are safety hazards, and can be liabilities for their owners and the community.

Most of the dams I work to remove are smaller industrial-era dams that are up to 300 years old. In a lot of cases, the dam has outlived its usefulness and its costs outweigh its benefits.

Removing dams sounds pretty easy. Is it?

Removing a dam can be incredibly complex, and that’s why it’s important to have a group like American Rivers help dam owners and community leaders navigate the many steps. We work with engineers to figure out what it will take to remove the structure, and we secure funding and necessary local, state, and federal permits. It took six years of work on Hamant Brook before the big yellow machines came to pull the dams out. The actual removal and restoration of the riverbed took about three months.

How is Hamant Brook unique?

There is a trail network along the river that people in the community use daily. What is exciting is that as people walk it every day, they will see the native fish coming back in. They will notice the change in the wildlife. They’ll see the plants grow. They get to see the evolution of the river as it comes back to life.

What inspires you?

It’s pretty exciting to think that we’re bringing a river, which hasn’t been a river for a century, back to what it wants to be. When we finally removed the last of the dams on Hamant Brook, the sun was down, and the equipment was gone. I stood there in the dark and listened to the river running. Just four hours earlier you couldn’t have heard anything. I get choked up thinking about it.

How do we strike a balance?

I get my drinking water from a series of reservoirs created by dams, so I understand that some dams are important. But there are so many deadbeat dams around the country that no longer serve a purpose. They’re choking our rivers. We need to be thoughtful about which dams make sense, and which ones need to come down.

Anything you want American Rivers supporters to know?

Having your consistent, ongoing support makes a fundamental difference. That’s the reason we aren’t working on a dozen dam-removal projects—we’re working on dozens all across the country. We have in-house expertise and we’re training a larger network of people to move this forward. We’re pushing forward a movement.

What’s next?

We’re going on a dam hunt in northern New Hampshire and Vermont—talking with community members, and identifying dams to remove and rivers to restore. Freeing rivers never gets old.

Watch a timelapse video of a dam being removed from Hamant Brook below:

This guest blog by Irene Nash is a part of our America’s Most Endangered Rivers® series on the South Fork Skykomish River.

Towering snow-capped mountains. Jagged granite peaks outlined against a brilliant sky. A powerful river carves its way past massive boulders as eagles hunt overhead, occasionally joining talons and spiraling downward together in what looks like a crazy, out-of-control game before separating and flapping regally away just before they reach the treetops.

It sounds like some wonderland tucked away in the Swiss Alps or a remote nature preserve, but amazingly this wild place exists in the Skykomish Valley – less than an hour from Seattle, one of America’s fastest-growing major cities.

Flowing through the Skykomish Valley, around 45 miles northeast of Seattle along National Scenic Byway Route 2, is the beautiful Skykomish River, a year-round playground for whitewater paddlers. With two roadside sections ranging from Class II to III+ and a powerful rite of passage Class IV rapid (Boulder Drop), “the Sky” is a kayaking classic and one of Washington’s most beloved rivers.

It’s sometimes difficult to describe the beauty of the Skykomish Valley. Last year, it was made apparent to me after returning from a kayak trip to some  remote and beautiful areas of Ecuador. After returning home, I surprised myself by telling my husband, “You know, our river valley is actually prettier!” We had the same reaction after paddling the Colorado River of the Grand Canyon. Yes, the scenery was fantastic, but there’s never a time that we return from any kind of trip without feeling a sense of disbelief that something as gorgeous as the Skykomish Valley is our backyard.

However, it’s easy for people to take for granted and I think that’s happening now, especially with the looming threat of the proposed hydropower project at Sunset Falls on the South Fork of the Skykomish River. My husband, who is from New Zealand, always points out that, “If this were New Zealand and the Skykomish Valley were within one hour of Auckland, the entire area would be thriving on recreational tourism and any idea of using the Skykomish River for hydropower would be ludicrous.”

With a long history of extractive industries forming the basis for local economies, however, it takes a forward-thinking mind shift on the part of policy-makers to entertain the idea that the future of this area may no longer lie in resource extraction, including the dubious and extremely optimistically framed economics of hydropower at Sunset Falls.

The economies of the towns along Highway 2 aren’t going to be supported by just whitewater kayaking, but there’s huge potential for them to tap into the resources of the thousands of recreational visitors who stream through the Skykomish Valley in growing numbers each week to hike, camp, ski, and fish. Just ask anyone who lives in the valley about traffic on Highway 2 and they’ll tell you it has gotten drastically heavier in just the last five years.

Many of these visitors come for the wilderness and outdoor recreation opportunities, which brings up the question: Isn’t it incredibly short-sighted to potentially scuttle the future of this area by planning mis-guided industrial projects that demolish wild characteristics and remove options for outdoor recreation?

I can easily picture the kids of today looking back in 20 years and asking our current policy-makers: “What were you thinking?”

For now, the Skykomish River flows freely and the tens of thousands of hikers who use the nearby Lake Serene Trail each year don’t yet have to hear explosions from diversion tunnels that proponents of the Sunset Falls hydropower project would like to see blasted into existence. Let’s hope common sense and a smart vision for the future prevail for this wonderland that is the Skykomish River Valley.

Help stop this dam from ruining the wild Sky River. Some places are too special to ruin with development and diversions.

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Guest blogger Irene Nash is a whitewater kayaker who lives in the Skykomish Valley with her husband and two dogs.

Weather in Colorado can be a fickle beast. Last year, despite the winter starting on a dry note, Colorado ended with a significant amount of precipitation across the state, particularly across the Western Slope. The snow was so deep in some communities that ski areas closed due do too much snow!!

But this year, it’s a different story. On my drive into the high country earlier this week, it was impossible not to notice a missing aspect of the landscape: snow. Colorado, like other states across the southwest and high plains is dry. Very, very dry. Warm temperatures with scant precipitation has been the norm for most of the winter, and despite a bit wetter February, it wasn’t enough to lift the state’s precipitation even to an average level – and the southwestern corner is still well below 75 percent of normal snowpack. Unfortunately, forecasts predict continued dry conditions into summer – we can no longer hope for a wet spring to save the day. As of March 14th, Colorado would need nearly 360 percent of normal snowfall to bring snowpack up to optimal levels.

So what does this mean for rivers?

Without a significant amount of moisture, and soon, summer flows across the state are destined to be much lower than average. The southwest and southeast parts of the state are experiencing the greatest threat, with snowpack in surrounding mountains being dismally low. The Gunnison, San Miguel, and Dolores River Basins are projected to produce 45 – 51 percent of average stream volume, and the Animas in early March experienced some of the lowest flows through Durango on record. However, while current reservoir levels across the state are at or above average (current storage total is around 116 percent of average) we can’t gamble our future on a great snowpack next year to replenish this year’s consumption. The trends are for less snow more often, and changes must be made to safeguard our rivers.

Colorado depends on our rivers for agriculture, recreation, municipal needs, and drinking water supplies. And we, as Coloradans, know that we cannot rely on weather patterns to get us out of a problem. The climate is changing, and overall we are experiencing more consistently dry years, with wet years becoming few and far between. We need to implement common sense solutions to cope with a future where there is regularly less water and drier conditions across Colorado.

While the snowpack situation isn’t looking great for us this year, water managers across Colorado were forward thinking in the creation of Colorado’s Water Plan. They identified collaborative, smart, and efficient solutions to protect our clean drinking water supply, and healthy rivers have and will continue to be a critical part of how we manage water and rivers here in Colorado. Colorado’s Water Plan identifies the fundamental solutions to preserve our clean, safe, reliable drinking water supply and protect the places we all love.

It’s unlikely we’ll hit the almost 360 percent of precipitation we need in the coming months just to get to average this year, which is why we must continue circling back to conservation and the protection of our rivers. Continued implementation of the Water Plan may alleviate the effects of weather swings in years to come by adding flexibility through identified solutions like increased water conservation, more flexible water management, and better protections for healthy rivers and streams. We have viable, cost-effective and strategic actions to ensure a healthy water future for Colorado, and by embracing these efforts now, and supporting increased funding for the plan into the future, we can make the best bet toward sustaining Colorado’s rivers through these dramatic, and unpredictable, swings in Colorado’s wild weather.

The South Fork of the Skykomish River in Washington’s North Cascades is a treasured watershed for many important values — recreation, scenic, critical fish and wildlife habitat, and even suitable for a Wild and Scenic designation. But unfortunately it is still ground-zero for a proposed hydropower project located at scenic Sunset and Canyon Falls.

The Project

In 2011, the Snohomish County Public Utility District (SnoPUD) began the regulatory process to study the feasibility of the Sunset Falls Hydroelectric Project to be located on the South Fork Skykomish River near the climbing and boating community of Index. The proposed run-of-river hydroelectric facility for the Sunset and Canyon Falls reach would reroute water from a 1.1-mile stretch of the river, in violation of the Washington Department of Ecology’s instream flow rule, sending it through a roughly 2,200-foot underground tunnel to a powerhouse at the base of Sunset Falls, thus reducing Sunset and Canyon Falls to a trickle (the initial proposal called for an inflatable eight-foot high by 55-foot wide weir which would have been placed at the top of Canyon Falls and diverted through a shorter tunnel and powerhouse). Seven years later, SnoPUD is hoping to file a final license application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) sometime this year.

Why Wild?

Surrounded by wilderness on both sides, the South Fork Skykomish River and its headwaters flow from deep in the Cascades, draining a breathtaking and fairly untouched 835-square-mile watershed. It is the proud centerpiece of communities along its riverbanks, with many residents who fish, paddle, and enjoy the variety of general river recreation opportunities the river offers.

If you’re an angler, a member of the Tulalip or Snoqualmie tribes, or an orca living in Puget Sound, you probably have an interest in the imperiled runs of native salmon, steelhead, and trout. And with ongoing habitat restoration work being completed throughout the basin, the threats from this proposed project are just too risky and undermine many of these large-scale and significant habitat investments. Additionally, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has been operating a trap-and-haul facility for these ESA-listed species since 1958 and trucking them above the falls (they are a natural impassable barrier to fish passage) in an effort to open up more habitat to aid recovery efforts. While the current trap-and-haul facility, located at the base of Sunset Falls, helps with upstream fish heading to their spawning grounds, the proposed project would adversely impact the downstream migration of salmon and steelhead smolts in the spring. And although the SnoPUD is dangling a $1.5-million carrot in the form of a trap-and-haul facility upgrade to WDFW, the plan doesn’t adequately address outmigrating smolt issues.

This section of the river is also popular among the whitewater community, with Sunset Falls once a traditional starting point to the classic run known simply as ‘the Sky.’ And because of these outstanding fish, wildlife, recreation, and scenic values, the South Fork Skykomish has been singled out for by a variety of state, regional, and federal agencies for protection. In 1990, it was recommended by the Forest Service as suitable for Wild and Scenic designation. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council identified it as a Protected Area from hydropower development. And it is recognized as the only Puget Sound river in the Washington State Scenic River system.

It Doesn’t Add Up

And while the Skykomish is a scenic jewel in the heart of a breathtaking landscape that is worthy of protection, this proposed project, no matter where it was located, has many flaws. For starters, the economic feasibility of the project doesn’t pencil out. Since 2013, the proposed construction costs have risen almost 30 percent, from a low estimate of $173-million to a high of up to $260-million dollars. The output from the powerhouse would max out at 30 megawatts (MW), or enough energy, according to SnoPUD research, to power up to 10,000 homes, but would be limited and dependent on minimum stream flows. So realistically, the project’s actual capacity given limited seasonal flows would be more around 14 MW.

An independent study from 2013 estimated that the power produced by the completed project would be two to three times more expensive than if SnoPUD were to simply buy the power from the existing grid— an added expense that would likely be passed on to ratepayers. Even SnoPUD’s own data show that the project is highly likely to operate at a loss for the first 30 years.

Is Nature Stepping In?

While these issues and protections might not be enough to halt what some residents call a ‘zombie’ project (five various hydropower projects have been proposed at this site since the early 20^th century by various utilities), Mother Nature might be getting in the last word.

Since 2013, the hillside directly south of the bedrock of Sunset Falls has been sliding and on the move ever since. With a constant trickle of water that seems to come from within the hillside, there are many residents who speculate the river is reclaiming an old course and rerouting to a channel that existed during the glacial age. Should the 300-foot-tall hillside give way to the river, it would completely bypass the Sunset and Canyon Falls reach, thus invalidating the entire project.

As some opponents have pointed out, it also flies in the face of one of the seven criteria submitted in the FERC pre-application documents which state that areas of consideration should have “no known geological hazards or unstable areas that would preclude construction.” It’s anyone’s guess if it could happen naturally anytime soon, but if blasting of the nearby bedrock were to proceed as outlined in the proposal, many residents worry about the effects it might have on the unstable slope.

What’s Next?

Presently, the SnoPUD is trying to petition to Department of Ecology to amend the instream flow rule even though Ecology has noted that the flows established under the existing instream flow rule cannot be impaired. Ecology has the legal authority and responsibility to protect and mandate minimum instream flows to protect designated uses (such as aesthetics, recreation, and fishery resources) under Section §401 of the Clean Water Act and changing the instream flow rule for this project would set a bad precedent and bode poorly for the future of the Skykomish and other Washington rivers.

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Every day seems to bring another headline about threats to rivers and clean water. That makes it even more important to celebrate victories and the progress we are making together to protect local waterways, clean drinking water and priceless ecosystems.

“American Rivers and our supporters all over the country are rising to meet the challenge of protecting rivers and clean water despite the headwinds created by an administration hostile to environmental protection,” says Chris Williams, senior vice president for conservation.

With your support, American Rivers is making a difference. We are fighting back hard against rollbacks to clean water protections, and we are making real solutions happen—from removing dams to helping underserved communities advocate for cleaner water to working at the local, state and federal level to put plans in place that safeguard our most precious resource.

Some of these victories for water will last generations. Others are temporary. We must stay vigilant and keep the pressure on. In the meantime, here are a few wins we can all be proud of.

Hoback River, Wyoming

To stop fracking at the headwaters of the Wild and Scenic Hoback River (one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers in 2011 and 2012), American Rivers and our partners raised almost $9 million to buy back natural gas leases from a Houston-based energy company. The buyout—combined with existing federal legislation that bans new oil and gas leasing in the Wyoming Range—protects clean water, wildlife, and recreational opportunities for generations to come.

Wild and Scenic Rogue and Smith rivers, Oregon

In early January 2017, the U.S. Department of the Interior adopted a 20-year ban on new hard-rock mining on 100,000 acres of public lands and rivers, including these two rivers (on the list in 2015). American Rivers worked with a coalition of local, state and national advocates to advance the safeguards and set an important, bi-partisan precedent for protecting public lands. A bill making its way through Congress would permanently block mining near the Rogue and Smith, which are home to some of the strongest runs of salmon and steelhead in the lower 48.

St. Lawrence River, New York

Outdated dams were harming the St. Lawrence River and fish and wildlife habitat. Our America’s Most Endangered Rivers listing in 2016 shined a spotlight on the problem and helped secure a solution: The U.S. and Canadian governments approved a plan in 2017 to restore more than 64,000 acres of wetlands along the St. Lawrence. The plan will also improve water quality, support fisheries and biodiversity, control erosion, and bolster the region’s economy.

Holston River, Tennessee

Flowing 274 miles from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia to the Tennessee River, the Holston hosts an ammunitions plant that leaked a carcinogenic, explosive compound into the groundwater for years. We included the Holston on our list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers in 2015 as a call to action. Good news: Local partners brought a successful lawsuit to force the plant to clean up the pollution. They won, and the work is scheduled to complete in 2020.

Rivers run through our lives in many ways, and each of us has a river story. To celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, we’re collecting and sharing 5,000 personal river stories.

Your stories: diverse voices from across the country, showing decision makers the importance of healthy rivers, and demonstrating a wave of support for new river protections.

Here are some recent stories shared from rivers across Oregon. Explore more stories from your own backyard at www.5000Miles.org and share your unique story with us today!

Faith Briggs, Deschutes River

I’ve had an absolutely magical time exploring Oregon’s rivers and the first thing that brought me out into a river, was fly fishing. I started learning to fly fish with Chad Brown this year and I fell in love. It was so incredible to spend that time out in the river, just being quiet and feeling the water moving around you. I don’t tend to give myself enough quiet time, so I appreciate those moments. It’s led me to join Chad’s non-profit organization, Soul River Inc, so I can share that love with others.

Billy aka Sweet William aka The World’s Greatest , Willamette River

One of my favorite memories of coming here and paddling with Bridge City Paddling Club probably has to be during the winter time when it gets dark out early and you’re out there with your team and you’re putting everything you got out on the water and you know the people right next to you are working just as hard as you. You’re all doing it together and then you look up and you see the city lights are right there in front of you and you know, it feels like you’re alive.

Chris Franklin, Rogue River

Late summer of 2016 I was invited on a trip of a lifetime. My friend suggested I join a group of 20 strangers to kayak down the Rogue River for 4 days. I grew up in Southern California where my idea of an outdoor adventure included roller coasters and corn dogs. I had never spent 4 days camping let alone traversing down a river with my paddle in hand.

I remember the nervous feeling before I got in my inflatable kayak for the first time. My hands gripping the paddle as I run through my safety instructions over and over in my head. Feeling unsure of my balance and thinking; how did I get myself into this.

We hit our first rapid, I lean forward, paddle fast and point my boat to the eddy as instructed. Whoa, I’m in the clear! I made it. We paddle for about 8 hours that day; I am learning new skills with every stroke I take. I take my first swim and jump back in the boat just to do it again. By the end of the day you couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face.

We set up camp, eat dinner and lay under the stars in the wild and scenic sectioned the Rogue River in southern Oregon. My mind racing with the challenges I had overcome that day and the confidence to jump back in my boat and do it all again the next morning. Life long friendships were made on that trip. New talents were forged through trial and my life will never be the same. I experienced the power of the river while also discovering the power that lives within me.

Sophiea Tyler, Willamette River

People always ask me why do you do this? I mean, how could you go out on the water when it’s freaking cold and it’s just really miserable? But it’s not! I mean this sport truly is all about heart, and I think that’s what I love about it the most. You have 20 people – this sport isn’t like football where you have a star quarterback or a running back – and every single person is valuable. Every single person commits to the team, to the boat, and it’s all 20 of us paddling together that makes us cross the finish line in first. So it’s just something that I think about and it’s a philosophy I like to carry off the water as well; we always cross the finish line better when we’re working together, as opposed to just trying to go solo. That’s kinda why I do it.

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South Carolina last updated its State Water Plan fourteen years ago. Since that time the state has grown by more than 15% adding some 750,000 people, endured its most severe drought during 2008-2009, passed a water withdrawal law that for the first time created regulations for water withdrawals from rivers and other surface waters, and witnessed controversy regarding the amount of water being taken from river and groundwater sources.

During 2018, South Carolina will embark on completing the second and final phase for a new State Water Plan. Authorized by the South Carolina Water Resources Planning and Coordination Act of 1967 as amended, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is assigned overall responsibility for developing a comprehensive water resources policy for the State, including coordination of policies and activities among State departments and agencies. The Department of Health and Environmental Control, the state regulatory agency for water issues, will be working closely with the Department of Natural Resources as the new plan is developed.

Last updated in 2004, the Water Plan can include policies and practices to address:

• Water supplies for domestic, municipal, agricultural, and industrial uses
• Facilities and controls for suitable water quality for all purposes
• Water needs for recreational and commercial navigation
• Hydroelectric power operations
• Flood damage control or prevention measures
• Salinity control measures
• Watershed protection and management measures
• Water needs for outdoor recreational and fish and wildlife opportunities
• Water related measures for economic growth and development
• The long-term preservation of water resources, and
• The general well-being of all the people of the State

For the first time the Department of Natural Resources will develop Basin Advisory Councils for each of the state’s eight major river basins – the Broad, Catawba, Edisto, Pee Dee, Salkehatchie, Saluda, Santee, and Savannah. These advisory councils will be tasked with providing local input to the water plan. What are the water management priorities for these regions and what actions need to be taken to ensure they will be met?

Questions that will need to be addressed by the new State Water Plan include:

• What can South Carolina do to ensure it has sustainable water supplies today and for future generations?
• What are sustainable practices that can be implemented for water utilities, agribusinesses, and industrial water users?
• Are their limits on how much groundwater should be pumped?
• What river flows are essential for healthy fish and wildlife, boating, and other outdoor recreational uses?
• How do we balance competing needs?

The culmination of the State Water Plan process, which is expected to take two to three years, is a comprehensive water resources policy for the State that will be submitted to the General Assembly and Governor for approval. It can also include recommendations to the General Assembly for any changes in state law needed to implement the plan.

American Rivers and other members of South Carolina Rivers Forever share a goal of ensuring an open and inclusive state water planning process. We are a network conservation organizations, business, and citizens in the state with a mission to protect the state’s surface and groundwater resources. South Carolina Rivers Forever strives to engage, educate, and empower South Carolinians to ensure that our water resources are clean, abundant, and protected to support beneficial uses including a prosperous economy, thriving wildlife, and outdoor recreation for today and future generations.

On May 30 and 31, 2018, South Carolina Rivers Forever will host the South Carolina State Water Plan Symposium: Bringing Together the People, the Science and the Best Practices for Sustainable Water Planning. Details on the symposium and registration instructions will be released in late March. To ensure you receive this information, please email me at gjobsis@americanrivers.org or Kristin Weaver of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation at Kristin@scwf.org.

Nestled in the shadows of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Tuckasegee River meanders through southwestern North Carolina for nearly 60-miles from its point of origin in Panthertown Valley through Cullowhee, Dillsboro, and Bryson City before joining the Little Tennessee River. The “Tuck” is also American Rivers’ newest Blue Trails project, where we are working with the community to improve family friendly recreation and protect the river and its surrounding lands.

An important part of Blue Trails work is planning to keep the river clean and safe. In September 2017, American Rivers hosted a National River Cleanup® event on the Tuckasegee River where we worked with the community to remove trash and celebrate the river.

We partnered with the Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River (WATR), the Tuckasegee Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and more than 20 volunteers including members of the Western Carolina University Fly Fishing Club.

Thanks to these dedicated volunteers, we removed 340 lbs of trash from the water and stream bank. Several items were salvaged and not included in the weigh in, such as rebar that will be repurposed in the construction of an educational display and several toys that were “rescued”, including the dinosaur in the photos and several basketballs.

Following the cleanup, we held a riverside celebration and pizza party on Scotts Creek at Monteith Farmstead and Park in Sylva, NC.

Every chance we get to help clean up the river is great but for groups like Trout Unlimited and WATR, a river cleanup isn’t a one off event. Both organizations have dedicated themselves to organize regular cleanups in the watershed.

WATR maintains a series of self-guided educational trails at Monteith Park that teach the public about river health which includes the importance of maintaining a riparian buffer and keeping the stream clean and alive. The salvaged rebar from the cleanup will be repurposed to help build a new display that will feature macro-invertebrates and their significance to river health. Part of their mission at Monteith Park includes hosting monthly cleanups.

The Tuckasegee Chapter of Trout Unlimited has adopted a portion of the Tuck where they host regularly scheduled cleanups. They also scout out the trout fishing waters in the basin and host opportunistic cleanups where they are needed most. Recently, Trout Unlimited partnered with the Town of Sylva, NC, and the WCU Fly Fishing Club to remove more than 3.5 tons of trash from Scotts Creek.

Many thanks to the awesome volunteers and all those dedicated to keeping our rivers clean and healthy. We can’t wait to see you on the river!

On a cold winter day in January, a caravan of diverse partners gathered in northeastern Tennessee to celebrate a partnership success to connect native trout habitat and ensure public infrastructure is resilient to floods.

American Rivers is proud to have partnered with the US Forest Service Cherokee National Forest, the US Fish and Wildlife, Trout Unlimited, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and The Nature Conservancy on the Briar Creek culvert replacement project. The project took a perched, too-small, problematic culvert under a Forest Service road and replaced it with a bottomless arched culvert that provided the following benefits:

1. Better fishing: Allows native Southern Appalachian Brook trout to move easily up and downstream of the road crossing to access important habitat to better support population diversity and size.
2. Better Habitat: Provides natural habitat through the road crossing (instead of a metal or concrete bottom) to maintain natural continuous stream function.
3. Secure Infrastructure: During floods, the structure has room for high flows like a natural stream does which allows the road infrastructure to be more resilient into the future to storm events.

Thanks to the skilled and collaborative efforts of our partners. The best projects happen when partners offer their resources and expertise, communicate openly, and learn from each project to make the next one better. This project was successful because our partners offered their best!

Check out the slideshow of before and after images, and the video from the celebration event.

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Do you ever wonder if the water coming from your tap is safe to drink? For some of us, we think about it every day.

Over the past few years, Great Lakes residents have started to pay VERY close attention to the safety of their drinking water. This region has been affected by toxic algae, lead, and now chemicals from sludge waste. I’m left wondering what we will be hearing about next.

So, how do we ensure that our water is safe? Is it a federal, state, or local issue? Or do all levels of government play a role? What can I do as a resident to educate myself on this issue?

With all of these questions in mind, American Rivers set out to find some answers.

First, we partnered with the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center to begin researching how the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is being implemented in Great Lakes states, focusing first on Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. We wanted to know if any of these states are currently going above and beyond what the federal Safe Drinking Water Act requires them to do. We also wanted to know how they compare with each other.

Next, we reached out to representatives of regional and state conservation organizations, environmental and social justice organizations, grassroots activist groups, private foundations, scientists, and other interested persons to participate in listening sessions. In total, we held six listening sessions, two for each state (MI, OH, and WI). At those sessions, we presented topics we thought were important to explore as well as questions we wanted to answer. We asked for feedback on whether or not those were the right questions and topics because we would eventually draft a report to address them. We also wanted to learn what we were missing. We learned a lot about the importance of key issues like lead and algae toxins, but we also learned about issues we didn’t know were issues. For example, we didn’t fully appreciate the significance of operator certification and private water wells as drinking water issues in the Great Lakes. As a result of these conversations, topics and questions were added and modified.

Moving forward we had to be realistic in what could be researched and included in this report. Ultimately, we focused this report on eight aspects of the SDWA: maximum contaminant levels, treatment techniques, and monitoring standards; regulation of lead as a drinking water contaminant; consumer confidence reporting; loans and grants; public participation in standards development, permits, and enforcement; operator certification; management of drinking water emergencies; and management of algal blooms. While not regulated by the SDWA, as a way to better understand states’ overall approach to drinking water, the report also looks at how states regulate private water well protection through private well construction codes and through regulation of other activities that can pollute private wells. This report describes the drinking water safety laws as they are, not as they were in the past or as they should be in the future.

There were many applicable topics and questions that were discussed in the listening sessions that the report does not address such as the emergency manager law that has such a profound effect in Michigan. The report does not look behind the legal schemes to evaluate how well states and water systems are implementing them nor does it provide prescriptions or recommendations for how states can and should improve their laws. The report looks at states, but not at tribal jurisdictions within the Great Lakes who have their own drinking water scheme. The report does not address other SDWA topics such as source water protection as a whole (though it does address certain aspects of it), wellhead protection programs, sole source aquifers, analytic methods, and reporting and recordkeeping.

Given that each state is unique, we wanted to give the reader a baseline of information regarding the SDWA and how these laws are interpreted in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, which could then inform advocacy efforts and policy action plans in each state. Anyone who wishes to understand the deficiencies and develop recommendations for improvement will need to start with what the laws are currently.

This will be a dynamic, iterative process. We intend to expand the report to address Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania. That expanded version will also address any changes to Michigan’s, Ohio’s, and Wisconsin’s legal schemes. It may also expand into additional topic areas.

If you are active on drinking water in Great Lakes states, please reach out to me to be included in the next round of listening sessions this spring. We want to make sure the issues that are important to you are included.

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With the 90^th Academy Awards quickly approaching, why not take a break and spend a few days lounging on the couch watching some of the best river movies out there? Our staff has put together a list of their favorite river movies for you to enjoy, no scrolling through Netflix needed.

Deliverance

Despite outdated stereotypes of mountain people, and in addition to being an awesome thriller of a movie, this incorporates a bunch of relevant river issues. From the power of free-flowing rivers, the importance of wilderness to our souls, and the destructive potential of dams. American Rivers founder Claude Terry was also a consultant for the river scenes and a “river double” during filming.

The Good Dinosaur

Kid friendly, the importance of river safety (specifically heeding flash flood warnings), and dinosaurs – what’s not to love?

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Did you know this 2002 Tolkien masterpiece features a dam removal scene? It’s when the Ents – along with the Hobbits we know and love – attack Isengard. Our dam removals aren’t as dramatic, but still cool nonetheless.

A River Runs Through It

Or as our Northern Rockies Director said, “Montanans simply call it, “the movie.” The film follows the complicated relationship of two brothers and the magic of fly fishing for trout in the Blackfoot River. We highly recommend it, especially for a young Brad Pitt and for the acting of our former Board member, Tom Skerritt.

Cape Fear (1991 remake)

While most of this thriller was filmed in Florida, it’s supposed to take place in Essex, NC and along the Cape Fear River. The Cape Fear was named one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2017. We’re not sure Robert DeNiro would want to cruise down the Cape Fear in a boat if he knew how threatened the river is from industrial agriculture waste.

Red Gold

Love a good documentary? This one follows the subsistence and commercial salmon fishermen of Bristol Bay, Alaska, as they work tirelessly to make their living off the land and water, and combat the proposed open pit gold and copper Pebble Mine.

Ola i ka Wai: Water is Life

As the opening line of the movie says, “fair access to water is going to be one of the pivotal issues of our time.” The short film looks into Hawaiʻi’s water resources and whether the state is following the laws written into its constitution.

The Memory of Fish

One man, the wild salmon he loves, and his fight to free a river. This beautiful, award-winning documentary follows the fight to remove dams along Washington’s Elwha River. Who doesn’t love a good dam removal?

Chinatown

The 1974 Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway classic was inspired by the California water wars, a series of disputes over southern California water at the beginning of the 20th century, by which Los Angeles interests secured water rights in the Owens Valley.

African Queen

With a 100% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this movie follows a riverboat captain who’s convinced by a missionary to attack an enemy warship during World War I. The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1994, with the Library of Congress deeming it “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

This RomCom-Drama is about a fisheries expert who is recruited by a consultant to help realize a sheikh’s vision of bringing the sport of fly fishing to the Yemen desert. Will the river be suitable for salmon populations and who ends up with Emily Blunt? You’ll have to watch to find out.

Ocean’s 11

Our Communications Director in the Colorado River Basin recommended this one “since it is set in Vegas and as we know, that is 100% Colorado River water.”

The River Wild

A family on a whitewater rafting trip encountering two violent criminals in the wilderness which also includes Meryl Streep whitewater rafting? Count us in. It also includes Kevin Bacon, since we all have some six degree connection to him. Spoiler alert, the “Salmon River” they’re rafting is actually parts of the Kootenai, Colorado, and Rogue rivers.

White Water Summer

An even younger Kevin Bacon in the wilderness with teenage guys (including Sean Astin), and of course something will go wrong. Please take notes on canoe safety during this film.

The Bridge of the River Kwai

With the most Academy Awards of any on this list, The Bridge on the River Kwai, is a true classic. In 1997, the film was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress. It is included on the American Film Institute’s list of best American films ever made. Go. Watch. It.

As California appears to be headed into another year of drought, a debate is raging about how to spend the $2.7 billion provided for increasing the state’s water supply by the 2014 Proposition 1. The California Water Commission, through the new Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP), must allocate the funding with a competitive application process by 2022. Water agencies, and one NGO, have submitted 12 proposed projects to the WSIP, ranging from a $22 million groundwater project near the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, to the $5.2 billion Sites Reservoir to be located in Antelope Valley some 10 miles west of the Sacramento River. Click here to see an interactive map of the projects.

The Water Commission worked with staff and stakeholders, including American Rivers, for over a year to develop regulations for spending the money. The WSIP can only fund costs associated with the “public benefits” of projects, defined as: ecosystem improvements, water quality improvements, flood control, emergency response, and recreation.

The Water Commission also established numerous eligibility criteria, and therein lies the rub. The criteria require that the “public benefit ratio” must be greater than 1, meaning the value of the public benefit provided by the project must be greater than the cost of providing it. Project applicants provided estimates of their public benefit ratios that ranged from 1.47 to 6.10. However, the Water Commission evaluated the ratios according to their stated methodology, and revised all of them downward, dramatically. The Commission gave four projects a score of zero – meaning they saw no credible benefit to the public – and no project scored above 1.

Project proponents had until Friday, February 23 to appeal the revised public benefit ratio, and the Commission will make final determinations on the ratios by May 3^rd. The Water Commission will determine by the end of July 2018 how much funding any proposed project could receive.

The prospect that no project would receive funding from Proposition 1 has caused a predictable ruckus in Sacramento, with eight pro-dam legislators sending a letter recently to the Water Commission urging it to fund new dams, and the leaders of the Assembly and Senate applauding the Water Commission for its rigorous review of applications.

If this winter continues its current pace as the third driest on record, the Water Commission can expect to face increasingly desperate calls to fund new dams.