The Arizona Legislature last week proposed a set of water policy bills that are more notable for the issues they don’t address than for the ones they do. The bills are silent on the most pressing water challenge Arizonans face – the declining levels of water stored in Lake Mead, and the impending probability that this long-term decline will force cutbacks in the state’s water supply. This is unfortunate, as it’s Arizona’s relationship with the Colorado River which has most strongly sustained the state’s economic growth, and prevented the collapse of its native groundwater supply. Increasingly, that relationship is becoming strained by the likelihood that the Colorado River will not be able to supply all of the water Arizona has taken from it, and the need for Arizonans to adapt to likely future shortages.

Arizona relies on the Colorado River in many ways. Communities, farms and tribes along the course of the river have direct access to its waters, and some of the highest priority claims to use them. River water also flows hundreds of miles across the desert through the Central Arizona Project canal to supply residents of Phoenix and Tucson, as well as farms across Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima Counties. In the 1960’s, in exchange for federal funds to build the canal, Arizona agreed that this water would have lower priority than water delivered to other users in California and Nevada. Complicating this picture, water delivered by CAP is also broken into higher and lower priority tiers. The important take home from all of this complexity is that Arizona is first in line for water supply cutbacks when there’s a shortage on the Colorado River.

Fortunately, the three states, the federal government, tribes, and Mexico have been working on solutions to sustain levels in Lake Mead, and prevent the deepest cutbacks to water users. Known as the Drought Contingency Plan, or DCP, this effort envisions an initial level of voluntary cutback in Arizona that will hopefully be enough to stave off deeper shortages, and more painful mandatory cuts. But in order to make this work, Arizona needs to have a difficult conversation about its water use, and how its future CAP supply will be used. In short, Arizona must cooperatively reach an agreement about how it will invest its water portfolio and create a fair solution for future water use. Inevitably, there will be challenges as some water users will lose their accustomed access, but without this Arizona dialogue and solution, the outcome could be more difficult for the state to bear.

Which is why the bills currently in the Legislature are so troubling. They don’t pose any solutions; they don’t reflect the progress made in discussions between water users, water providers and state leaders; they don’t show leadership on behalf of all Arizonans or the Colorado River. Arizonans can’t afford to delay a challenging conversation about the future of the River and the state’s communities for much longer. All of us should get to know our water, and the real concerns about this security of this lifeline. By knowing your water, we’ll be better able to cooperatively develop solutions and to become more flexible and efficient in the way we use our Colorado River supply. While there are undoubtedly difficult challenges ahead, there’s also an opportunity to build a better relationship with our Colorado River supply, and a better future for Arizona and the River.

Last year was a banner year for dam removals across the country. Eighty-six dams were torn down in 2017, beating the previous high number of 78 dams in 2014. Communities in 21 states, working in partnership with non-profit organizations and state and federal agencies, removed the dams to reconnect more than 550 miles of streams.

Dams were removed in the following states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

In 2017, Pennsylvania had the highest number of removals for the fifteenth year in a row. The top three states removing outdated dams in 2017 were:

• Pennsylvania – 16 dams removed
• California – 10 dams removed
• Massachusetts– 9 dams removed

American Rivers is the only organization maintaining a record of dam removals in the United States. The database includes information on 1,492 dams that have been removed across the country since 1912. Most of those dams (1,275) were removed in the past 30 years.

American Rivers played a role in 14 of the dam removals on this year’s list. The list includes all known dam removals, regardless of the extent of American Rivers’ involvement.

Factors that contributed to the record number of dams removed in 2017 include increased awareness about the benefits of removing outdated, unsafe dams; efforts by American Rivers and others to train organizations and increase capacity to manage dam removal projects; and the cost of maintaining aging dams, which pose liability and safety hazards for their owners.

The American Society of Civil Engineers gives the nation’s dams a D grade in its report card on the nation’s infrastructure. One of the most cost-effective ways to deal with outdated, unsafe dams is to remove them. When a dam is removed, a river can flow naturally, which can have benefits for water supply and flood protection.

To accompany the 2017 list of dams removed, American Rivers updated the interactive map that includes all known dam removals in the United States since 1916. Visit www.AmericanRivers.org/DamRemovalsMap

American Rivers’ database of all dam removals since 1916 can be found at: www.AmericanRivers.org/DamRemovalDatabase

Highlights of dam removal and river restoration efforts in 2017 include:

Lock and Dam No. 6, Green River, KY

In recent years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Louisville District undertook an economic assessment of navigation dams on the Green and Barren rivers in Kentucky, and received Congressional approval to de-authorize (i.e., retire) five little-used locks and dams. Lock and Dam No. 6 was quickly removed from the Green River by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) – utilizing a construction crew that has successfully removed several dams throughout the southeast – in April 2017, due to its deteriorated condition and safety hazard. Other project partners included: Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Mammoth Cave National Park, The Nature Conservancy and Kentucky Waterways Alliance. In addition to the project improving habitat for fish, mussels and invertebrates, the dam’s impoundment was filling a portion of Mammoth Cave National Park with water and sediment, and that part of the caves will now be accessible for important archaeological study. The project is precedent-setting for removing uneconomical, expensive federal navigation infrastructure and for the federal partnership between the Army Corps and USFWS.

Lower Eklutna River Dam, Eklutna River, AK

Originally built to provide hydropower, but no longer in use, the Lower Eklutna River Dam was removed in October 2017 in one of Alaska’s most ambitious habitat restoration projects ever. The Eklutna Native Corporation and the Native Village of Eklutna partnered with The Conservation Fund to work within a brief construction window in a 300-foot deep steep-walled canyon to open seven miles of the Eklutna River for salmon migration. This project has provided construction work for the local community, boosting the economy and helping to restore salmon runs that are vital for cultural heritage and sustenance.

Hamant Brook Lower, Middle, and Upper Pond Dams, Hamant Brook, MA

Three dams on Hamant Brook in Massachusetts were removed in Fall 2017 to allow native trout and endangered turtles access to important habitat. Hamant Brook runs through the Leadmine Conservation Area – 880 acres of protected municipal conservation land. The project includes work to improve public access to the protected lands, while removing a public safety hazard and improving habitat for fish and wildlife. The Hamant Brook Restoration Project is supported by the landowners (Town of Sturbridge and Old Sturbridge Village), in partnership with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, American Rivers, and the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration.

Boardman Dam, Boardman River, MI

The Boardman River Dam removal is part of a larger restoration effort to address four barriers along the Boardman River in Michigan. This project not only removed an impediment to fish passage, but also improved a river crossing for local residents. Previously, the Brown Bridge Dam was removed in 2013, and plans are in place to remove Sabin Dam and modify Union Street Dam in the near future. The largest river restoration project in Michigan’s history, collectively the project will restore more than three river miles of native coldwater fish habitat, more than 250 acres of wetlands and nearly 60 acres of upland habitat.

For more information on 2017 dam removals, please see our full list.

American Rivers congratulates Erin McCombs as the winner of the 2018 Fred A. Harris Fisheries Conservation Award which is presented by the NC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society to individuals or organizations who have distinguished themselves in the conservation of fisheries and aquatic resources in North Carolina.

This award recognizes her significant contributions to protect and enhance the natural resources and stream habitats in North Carolina. Erin will be presented the award at the Chapter’s Annual Meeting in February in recognition of her achievements under American Rivers’ River Restoration and Riverside Land Protection programs.

Erin works in American Rivers’ Southeast Region, largely in the Carolinas and Tennessee, to provide program development, technical assistance, project management, and general guidance in the planning, development and implementation of projects like dam removals and Blue Trails for the River Restoration and Riverside Land Protection programs. Read more about Erin’s work here.

The City of Fayetteville began as a small trading post named for the creek it was on: Cross Creek. In 1783, it was incorporated and renamed in honor of Marquis de Lafayette to celebrate his support during the American Revolution. The city grew over Cross Creek and began to embrace its location along the Cape Fear River.

Fayetteville was one of the most inland commercial ports in North Carolina with three locks along the Cape Fear allowing ships to make the trek. This commerce drove development in the City and eventually lured the U.S. Army to establish Fort Bragg there. Pope Air Force base was collocated there making the area one of the largest and fastest growing military installation in the country. It is home to the U.S. Army Forces Command as well has home base for the 18th Airborne Corps, the 82 Airborne Division, and U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

The growth of Fayetteville over the years consumed most of Cross Creek, ditching and channelizing it as it flows to the Cape Fear. As the city grew it put in a drainage system that sends all of its untreated stormwater runoff into the river and on downstream. Over the last five years the City has begun to realize the impact it is having on water quality and has begun to develop plans to reduce that negative impact.

Spurred by requirements of the federal Clean Water Act, in 2013 the City developed new goals to reduce stormwater pollution going into the Cape Fear River and creating an opportunity for our engagement with them to reinvent the way they manage stormwater. The leadership within the City has also embraced looking at how it manages its water resources in new ways which is best seen with the development and implementation of a Green Street retrofit of Person Street which runs through the core of downtown Fayetteville and drains to Cross Creek.

We have been working with the City and local and regional partners to develop a plan to restore Cross Creek and reconnect with the Cape Fear River. We are working with the City to fully embrace the use of green stormwater infrastructure to reduced polluted stormwater run-off into Cross Creek. The stream is also part of Fayetteville’s water supply network, using green infrastructure will help to protect its supplies from pollution while also regulating the amount of water that is available for water supplies. Flooding  has become endemic in parts of the city due to huge amounts of run-off from the paved surfaces that have come to dominate the urban landscape, the use of green stormwater infrastructure will be focuses in area that are suffering from flooding as a way to mitigate those impacts. Our partnership with the City will yield both policy changes to reduce the barriers to using smarter green stormwater infrastructure and also incentives for the construction of on the ground projects. The end product will be an urban stream that is approachable by the community and is an enjoyable resource for everyone that encounters it.

This blog was co-authored by Fay Augustyn and Annemarie Lewis.

Every river, from the unsuspected stream trickling by to the largest river spanning a mile from bank to bank, has shaped memories and fueled stories between family and friends. Many of my fondest memories take place on or near a river. One of my favorites that I think back to often was a trip some time ago with my grandfather in Rocky Mountain National Park. As we hiked along the small stream that eventually grows into the mighty Colorado River, he shared with me many of his adventures, and how outdoor spaces like this make Colorado such a special place.

This past summer, I revisited this hike for the first time in over a decade. As I retraced our footsteps along this tiny stream, admiring the small trout moving from pool to pool, I was transported back to my teenage self and those moments with my grandfather. He was right – outdoor spaces, like rivers, whether in quiet, wild environments, or busier urban settings – connect us to the people we are with and the spaces we are in. These outdoor spaces deserve to be protected and enjoyed.

2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and today, thanks to the work of river advocates across the country, the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System safeguards more than 12,700 miles along parts of 208 rivers. Because 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the act, American Rivers, American Whitewater, and other partners are launching their boldest river protection effort ever: 5,000 Miles of Wild.

In this week’s episode of We Are Rivers, we describe the impact we will make through the 5,000 Miles of Wild® campaign – including the protection of an additional 5,000 river miles and collecting 5,000 of your river stories. Stories cultivate and spread passion: your stories will illustrate the personal and cultural values of rivers to policy makers, and you can help the campaign by posting your own story here!

In the spirit of 5,000 Miles of Wild®, We Are Rivers host, Annemarie Lewis shared her river story with me, which involved the scariest moment of her life.

I was darkly submerged under water, inverted and struggling to unjam my foot from a crevasse in the bottom of a flipped dory. Over 200 river miles into the heart of The Grand Canyon, I will never forget how long seconds can drag when blood craves oxygen. This may not sound like a reasonable favorite river memory, but everything ended up okay, and, that night, I wrote in my journal: “To be reminded of a river’s raw power, I am humbled.” Somehow, I feel further impassioned to pursue adventures involving water. Perhaps this is why so many return to the river year after year, not for the comfort or for the luxury or pictures, but for the rawness of the moment and the uninsured outcome. This is incredibly grounding: the pull of the incalculable unknown, the pull that can be complex and dangerous, but also as simple as sitting by a river’s edge and contemplating the story of passing water. Let these moments be enough.”

Whatever your river story may be – a particularly joyful moment, a humbling experience, or a wild adventure, American Rivers looks forward to reading your own river story! Join us in listening to our new podcast episode to learn more about the 5,000 Miles of Wild® campaign and hear stories from river advocates and lovers from across the country.

This is a guest blog by Alabama Rivers Alliance’s Cindy Lowry.

This may surprise you, but I had never been in a real live court room until January 12, 2018. That was the day I attended the oral arguments for American Rivers, Alabama Rivers Alliance, et al. v Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Before I tell you how exhilarating my court experience was (and I was merely a spectator), I should tell you how we all ended up there in the first place.

Dams and the Coosa River

From its headwaters in Georgia, the Coosa River flows through Alabama to form the Alabama River. These mighty waters flow on through the Tensaw Delta into Mobile Bay and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico. Rich in aquatic biodiversity, it is the fourth largest basin in the country with regards to stream flow.

Construction of the dams on the Coosa River wiped out more than 30 freshwater species – one of the biggest extinction events in North America during the 20th century. The decades that followed have seen a continuing decline in biodiversity and the loss of endangered species and habitat due to the dams’ impact on the flow of water and the river’s lack of oxygen.

The Basics of Hydropower Relicensing

The relicensing of a hydropower dam is a great example of our nation’s environmental laws put into practice to protect our water and wildlife. From the National Environmental Policy Act to the Endangered Species Act to the Clean Water Act, this process “touches” them all. This is not by accident, of course. When you place a large structure like a dam in the middle of a flowing river, you permanently alter the habitat and the lives of all things that live in and around that body of water. These licenses can last anywhere from 30 to 50 years, so stakeholder participation happens once in a generation. The initial licenses occurred before most environmental laws were enacted. This is why participating in the process now is so important.

The FERC relicensing process requires multiple stakeholder meetings, a series of official steps from appropriate state and federal agencies (such as a water quality certification from the state and a biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if endangered species are affected) as well as opportunities for public comments from stakeholders. The company seeking the license is central to the process and has many requirements to meet in order to complete the steps to get a new license. The process is designed to allow for necessary studies to be conducted and the concerns raised to be addressed before the final license is issued.

Alabama Rivers Alliance Involvement in Relicensing

My organization, the Alabama Rivers Alliance, became involved in the relicensing of the Alabama Power hydropower dams on the Coosa River from its beginning, in the early 2000s. The license for this river is not for just one dam, but SEVEN dams. Our interest is and has always been ensuring that there is a balance between the power and non-power uses of the river, such as aquatic species habitat, water quality, and recreation. American Rivers has been a vital partner throughout this process.

On June 2, 2010, American Rivers rated the Coosa as the tenth most endangered river in the United States. The main threat, they said, was the hydropower dams. In its 2013 report The Seven Sins of Dam Building, the World Wildlife Fund included the Coosa River’s dams as one of the world’s worst examples of the impacts of dams to biodiversity.

Since the beginning of our participation in the stakeholder meetings and public comment opportunities for this license more than 15 years ago, we have asked for more thorough environmental studies to ensure protections are in place to balance the river’s ecological needs with hydropower production.

You can imagine our surprise when the biological opinion was issued with a finding of “no significant impact”, despite clear impacts to rare, threatened and endangered species. Then in 2013, FERC issued the new license with inadequate requirements for improving dissolved oxygen and river flows below the dams, and none of the studies needed to show that these dams would not continue to contribute to the further decline of the Coosa River system.

After a series of legal steps, we found ourselves in front of three judges in Washington D.C. with our lawyers making the same arguments and the same requests for remedy that the river has always needed and that we have been asking for more than a decade. I found myself exhilarated by the legal process happening all around me.

Our Day in Court

My first stop in Washington D.C. was the hotel where our attorneys with the Southern Environmental Law Center were prepping for the case. Not being a lawyer myself, I was fascinated about how all of this works. I learned that they only have 15 minutes to make our case to the judges and in that time period, the judges will be firing questions at them for clarification and understanding. I quickly assessed that my decision early in life to not become a lawyer was the right one, and I was proud to watch the two female attorneys who were around my age working so diligently on our case. I was glad they made the decision they did. I felt very good about our chances after watching Megan Huynh and Sarah Stokes in action.

The next day we gathered in the courtroom to watch with much anticipation. The action did not disappoint. Once again Megan and Sarah impressed me and the judges did exactly as I was told they would in asking their questions, assessing the arguments, and remaining professional yet expressionless in the process. I was encouraged by the number of pointed questions the judges asked attorneys representing FERC and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The entire hearing was over in less than an hour. All I could think was how badly I wanted a decision after more than 15 years of trying to get what we strongly believe this river system truly needs.

Unfortunately, the law is a complicated process and the wheels of justice grind slowly, so we will have to wait – perhaps for months – to hear the judges’ decision. We will be ready.

It’s All Worth It

I spent some time after the courtroom adventure trying to reflect on why the whole thing gave me such intense energy and excitement. I realized it was because I was experiencing the feeling of actually contributing to something that could possibly save entire species of freshwater snails and mussels from extinction and it felt real to me. This is one of the reasons I do what I do. In her book, Immersion: The Science and Mystery of Freshwater Mussels, Abbie Landis writes: “When a waterway changes, mussels are the first to know….mussels’ peril is our own. We need the same thing – plentiful clean water in healthy creeks and rivers.” I felt this peril in that courtroom that day and I left with the hope that all of our time was worth it if we can improve this license and, thus, the health of the Coosa River for generations to come.

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Author: Cindy Lowry
Cindy Lowry is the executive director of the Alabama Rivers Alliance. She joined the staff in 2005 as Watershed Leadership Coordinator and took the helm as Executive Director in 2007.

We all know that Arizona lies in a big, dry, desert – yet we still love living here and making this state our home! But the beautiful landscape and economic vitality that supports the unique Arizonan lifestyle is fueled by our supply of water, and that supply is in jeopardy. Nearly half of Arizona’s water is provided by the Colorado River via the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal. That’s drinking water for people, irrigation water for farms, ranches, and wineries, water for businesses and towns that keep Arizona’s economy humming, and water for our abundant wildlife and natural heritage.

CAP Water that is unused by Arizona tribes and cities gets passed to other uses

Our supply of Colorado River water is measured and managed by levels in Lake Mead, on our northern border with Nevada. Due to drought and dramatic overuse in the Southwest, Lake Mead has been dropping quickly, even with hefty snowpack in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming over the past few winters – the mountains simply cannot keep up with overuse by Arizona and surrounding states.

Built in conundrum: more water is taken out of Lake Mead than comes in each year

This imbalance is why leaders and elected officials from California, Arizona, and Nevada, along with the U.S. and Mexican governments, have come together to negotiate a deal that will work hand-in-hand to store more water in Lake Mead, and will ensure participation from each of the states on a formal basis. This agreement is called the Drought Contingency Plan, or DCP, and we need to get it done!

Under Bureau of Reclamation operating guidelines for the river, Lake Mead must be maintained at an elevation of at least 1,075 feet, and in recent years with a combination of overuse and the effects of drought, the lake has barely stayed above that level. If it drops below 1,075 feet, mandatory cutbacks could be first imposed upon Arizona, with other states being penalized later. Deeper cuts are possible if the lake level drops further.

CAP Provides Water for Many Uses. Without DCP, Shortages Could Touch All Arizonans

These cuts would create significant risks, especially for the agriculture and development sectors of our state’s economy who will be the first to see their water supplies reduced. The impacts wouldn’t be evenly felt; some communities and natural resources would suffer more than others.

A DCP Agreement is Necessary to Prevent Undesirable Consequences

No great feat of engineering is going to help us out of this predicament – however our ingenuity can help us find a way. Instead we must look to policies and conservation measures governing water use in the lower Colorado River Basin. The DCP does just that by forging a series of agreements, enforceable between the three states, to share investments in these conservation measures, as well as the benefits. The DCP will balance our water system and make us more resilient to future shortages, as well as provide a mechanism for future agreements to secure sustainability across the entire southwest. It is truly a win for Arizona, and a path forward for all three states.

When implemented, the DCP will do five key things:

1) Protects Arizona water users from drastic, involuntary reductions, and provides for gradual reductions through voluntary water exchanges and conservation.

2) Encourages the three states, with additional help from the country of Mexico, to voluntarily keep more water in Lake Mead, working together to avoid dropping below the 1,075 feet elevation threshold.

3) Joins all three states (and the U.S. government) in collective responsibility to protect Lake Mead’s water, especially if lake levels continue to drop – and provides for the first time that California will share in some of the water reductions.

4) Provides incentives for states, especially California and Arizona, to store some of its extra water, known as “surplus” or “excess” in Lake Mead, when it has it. As states conserve more, and with the blessing of abundant winter snows, Lake Mead can rise again – especially if we help it do so.

5) And lastly, the DCP works towards a collaborative management solution between the states and federal government, with the health of Lake Mead as a top, stated priority.

Legislation is Needed in 2018 to Improve Arizona Water Management in Three Areas

1) Support the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP): The Lower Colorado Basin DCP is a proposal currently under consideration that aims to protect Lake Mead’s elevation from dropping to critical levels that would reduce Arizona’s water supplies. The Coalition is working to get it authorized by the Legislature and signed by AZ, CA, NV and the Bureau of Reclamation.

2) Support an Arizona DCP-Plus Plan: DCP-Plus is an Arizona-only plan to keep Lake Mead elevation above 1,080’ and delay or prevent future shortage declarations that could take out roughly one-third of Central Arizona’s Colorado River supplies. DCP-Plus would incentivize reductions in water use and water storage programs so that unused water can be safely stored in Lake Mead. To enact the Plan, the Coalition believes we need an ‘Excess Water’ compromise that helps both the River Counties where CAP seeks to buy and transfer new water supplies, and for others who depend on the economic vitality created by a secure Colorado River supply.

3) Support an Arizona Colorado River Conservation Plan: Such a plan would establish an ongoing and collaborative process to ensure Lake Mead elevations are always protected. The plan would estimate conservation volumes needed on a yearly basis to ensure Lake Mead elevations do not fall to the point at which Arizona will experience harmful shortages. The Coalition supports a plan that would assure water users that the water they choose to forbear and conserve in Lake Mead will benefit all Arizonans, and not be consumed by another water user.

The deal is not final yet. Completing DCP negotiations is key to protecting Lake Mead from future shortages. And most importantly, it reminds residents and business interests across all three states that we are all in this together, and by acting boldly, we can sustain our lifestyle, economy, and rivers and wildlife of the Southwest for generations to come.

For more information on broader Colorado River issues in the lower basin, please visit our Lower Colorado webpage.

Everyone deserves access to safe, affordable, reliable clean water. Unfortunately, in communities across the country, clean drinking water is at risk. That’s in part because our water infrastructure – including pipes to distribute drinking water and move dirty water to treatment systems – is outdated and in some cases, literally crumbling.

Last year, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued a report card on the nation’s infrastructure. Drinking water systems received “D” grades. And while this puts all Americans at risk, it’s communities of color and lower-income neighborhoods which already suffer from lack of investment and opportunity that feel the worst impacts.

We must bring our water infrastructure up to modern standards – our health, economy and well-being depend on it. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that we need more than $650 billion in water infrastructure investment over the next 20 years just to meet current environmental protection and public health needs.

President Trump is making infrastructure a focus of his State of the Union address on January 30 and he is expected to release a plan for the nation’s infrastructure in the coming weeks. Any successful plan will make real investments in repairing aging water mains and replacing lead pipes, not just offering corporations tax cuts and privatization schemes or rolling back bedrock environmental laws like the Clean Water Act.

It’s also critical that when we invest in water infrastructure, we invest wisely. While fixing old pipes must be on the “to do” list, we should also prioritize nature-based solutions to managing our water resources. These innovative approaches not only deliver clean water, they have multiple benefits for communities – saving money, creating jobs and improving lives.

Nature-based solutions can mean planting trees and restoring wetlands, rather than building a costly new water treatment plant. It can mean choosing water efficiency and conservation instead of building a new water supply dam. It can mean restoring floodplains instead of building taller levees.

These approaches that protect, restore and mimic the natural water cycle have a wide range of social, economic and environmental benefits. Our report “Naturally Stronger” documents how cities including Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Washington, DC are successfully using nature-based solutions to secure reliable water supplies, create good jobs, keep water rates affordable, increase community parks and green space, and reduce flooding.

As President Trump puts infrastructure in the spotlight, American Rivers will be urging Congress to reject the President’s proposals to weaken bedrock environmental laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and Clean Water Act. We will also encourage Congress to stand up for greater water infrastructure investment and insist on nature-based solutions to restore and modernize our nation’s infrastructure.

This week the president delivers his annual State of the Union address to Congress. Doubtless President Trump will declare that due to his efforts the state of the union is strong, and assure Americans that whatever problems remain, he – alone – will fix them. But to those who care about rivers and clean water (which should be everyone, right?), those assurances will ring hollow.

Rivers and streams in America have come a long way since the dark days when oily plumes of smoke rose over the burning Cuyahoga. Federal legislation like the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act have dramatically reduced pollution – by one estimate, the dumping of toxic pollutants by industry has been reduced by 700 billion tons per year – slowed the destruction of wetlands and small streams, and helped make drinking water supplies in the U.S. among the safest and most reliable in the world. But (and there’s always a “but”) the job of securing the nation’s water resources from pollution and environmental degradation is far from finished.

The Clean Water Act (CWA) set a goal of making the nation’s waters “fishable and swimmable” by 1983. Though we’ve made significant progress, we missed that deadline by a wide margin. According to one recent study, over 50% of assessed rivers and streams failed to meet water quality standards. In another, only 28% of rivers and streams were determined to be in good condition while 46% were in poor condition. Nearly 25% of river and stream miles nationwide carry harmful bacteria at levels that could threaten the health of people exposed via recreation. Wetlands continue to suffer from pollution, dredging and filling. In fact, recent studies suggest the pace of wetlands loss has been increasing since the early 2000s.

In the latter half of the 20^th century, the dependable quality of drinking water in the U.S. was the envy of the world, but after years of neglect, cracks are appearing in the legal and physical infrastructure that we all depend on for safe drinking water. Pollution from lead, coal ash, algae blooms, agricultural run-off, and other sources are fouling water supplies in communities across the country. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives the condition of the nation’s wastewater and drinking water infrastructure a grade of D-, and the American Water Works Association estimates that a trillion dollars over the next 25 years is needed to make the system whole again. No less an authority than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned (during the previous administration) that crumbling infrastructure threatens to reverse the public health and environmental gains achieved since passage of the Clean Water Act.

President Trump is unlikely to dwell on much of this in his State of the Union address. But his actions, and those of his EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, speak volumes about the administration’s lack of concern for clean water and its antipathy toward federal efforts to protect it. The new administration was barely under way before plans were announced to drastically cut the EPA’s budget, and long-time agency professionals and advisors – the core scientific expertise and institutional memory of the agency – found themselves frozen out of decision-making. One of Trump’s first acts as president was to sign a bill revoking an Obama Administration rule that would have stiffened limitations on the dumping of mine waste into rivers and streams. Since then the administration has announced plans to review (read: roll back) a rule that protects streams from the dumping or leakage of coal ash, scrapped a policy that required that planning of public infrastructure projects account for flooding aggravated by climate change, and delayed compliance with a rule limiting the discharge of water-borne pollutants from coal-fired power plants.

Plans were laid even before the inauguration to eliminate the “Waters of the United States” or Clean Water Rule. In 2001 and 2006, two oblique Supreme Court rulings cast doubt on the extent of the CWA’s jurisdiction, and the Obama Administration engaged in a lengthy rulemaking process to clarify the authority of the CWA to protect small streams and wetlands that contribute to the drinking water supplies of one in three Americans. After years of painstaking scientific, economic and legal analysis, hundreds of public meetings, and a comment period that produced over a million comments, the Clean Water Rule was adopted, reaffirming the CWA’s authority. Shortly after taking office, President Trump and Administrator Pruitt launched an effort to sweep away this carefully crafted rule and once again expose hundreds of thousands of miles of small streams and wetlands to unregulated pollution and degradation.

So, at a time when action to protect the nation’s water resources should be ramping up – according to a recent poll the public’s concerns about clean water are at their highest level in over 15 years – the Trump Administration is doing exactly the opposite. And don’t let the Administration’s much ballyhooed initiative on infrastructure (which the president may tout in his speech) fool you. A draft of the plan that began circulating a few days ago reveals it to be an industry wish list of exemptions from the nation’s bedrock environmental laws that would further undermine protection for rivers, streams and clean water.

If that sounds bleak…well…it is pretty bleak. Fortunately, folks all over the country are rising to meet the challenge of protecting rivers and clean water despite the headwinds created by a president hostile to environmental protection. American Rivers and allies will challenge the rollback of the Clean Water rule in federal court, arguing that the administration’s effort to sweep away the rule is not only unwise but unlawful. States from California to Maryland are investing in water infrastructure the right way, with dam removal and river and floodplain restoration projects that promote water quality, improve public safety, and provide wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities. Partnerships between landowners, NGOs, local governments and Native American tribes are implementing watershed restoration and management projects that benefit local communities as well as fish and wildlife. Cities across the country are pioneering integrated water management approaches to secure drinking water supplies and better manage pollution from sewer overflows and urban run-off. Stakeholders are working together to better allocate scarce water resources in response to drought, and promoting natural infrastructure – rivers floodplains, and wetlands – that can often be as effective as concrete and pipes at purifying and delivering drinking water to communities, and at a significantly reduced cost.

None of this can replace an active federal government promoting strong protection for rivers and clean water and investing the billions of dollars necessary to effectively address the decay of our water infrastructure. Until we return to that kind of federal leadership, we must do everything we can to hold the line for rivers and clean water.

This is a guest blog by our January 2018 National River Cleanup intern, Chelsea Alley.

There is a wide variety of trash found at river cleanups; from shopping carts to sofas, bottles to baby dolls. National River Cleanup^® volunteers work to make these waterways trash-free – removing unique and common items alike. In no particular order, below are the five most common trash items found at river cleanups:

1. Cigarette butts

Cigarette butts weigh one gram or less, but they account for 30% of all litter in the United States. They are the single worst offender in spite of their small size (food packaging makes up a larger percentage of litter but includes more than just one item, like straws, takeout containers, snack wrappers, etc.). This means that more than one trillion cigarettes are discarded each year, weighing over two billion pounds… or the equivalent of 42 Titanic’s stacked together!

2. Plastic bottles and bottle caps

More than 22 billion plastic water bottles are thrown away yearly, meaning only about one in every six water bottles purchased in the United States ends up being recycled. An average water bottle weighs about 12.7 grams, so the amount of water bottles wasted each year weighs over half a billion pounds. That’s almost as heavy as the Empire State Building! Plastic bottles and bottle caps aren’t biodegradable, but they do photodegrade. That means that this plastic breaks down into small parts in the sun, and releases chemicals into the environment as they disintegrate. The worst part? They continue breaking down for 500 – 1,000 years!

3. Food Packaging

Food packaging is the largest category of waste on this list, as it includes household packaging (i.e. milk jugs, juice boxes, and snack packaging) as well as fast food packaging (i.e. paper, Styrofoam, paperboard wrappings, coffee cups, and drink cups). Almost half of litter in the U.S. is food packaging. While some of these items could be recycled, most are not, and often these are found weighing down shorelines and waterways. The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that fast food chains and consumer brand manufacturers relying on single-use packaging waste over $11 billion a year, enough to fund ¼ of the U.S. Energy and Environment budget.

4. Plastic Bags

Plastic bags are so common in the United States that over 100 billion bags are used each year. Over three times more bags end up as litter in our forests and waterways than are recycled annually. Plastic bags only weigh about eight grams each, but enough are littered annually to weigh as much as 176 adult blue whales! Plastic bags take almost as long to degrade as plastic bottles, leach chemicals into the environment, and inhibit natural water flows.

5. Aluminum Cans

Almost 100 billion aluminum cans are used in the U.S. annually, and only about half of these cans are recycled. The rest go to landfills or into the environment. Beverage containers account for 50% of roadside litter (though this statistic includes plastic containers), and much of that is washed into our waterways. Every aluminum can weighs about 14.9 grams, which means that even if only 1% of the aluminum cans used each year were littered, there would be enough waste to equal the weight of 2,500 African bush elephants, and enough cans to circle the equator almost two and a half times.

Bonus: What will stay in your river the longest? Microplastics.

Microplastics can come from larger plastic items when they break down, or in the form of products like microbeads. Most microplastics float into the ocean, but a lot will sink to the bottoms of riverbeds and mix in with the sediment there. This effects oxygen levels in the water as well as harms animals that depend on these ecosystems for their livelihoods. Because plastic takes so long to break down, microplastics are so small, and these items are located along the bottom of rivers, they can stay in the rivers for potentially up to 1,000 years.

These numbers are certainly overwhelming, but they don’t need to stay that way! There are many things you can do on your own or with your community to reduce the amount of waste in rivers:

• Organize a cleanup with National River Cleanup^®, or sign up for an existing cleanup near you.
• Learn more about recycling with our National River Cleanup^® recycling guide.
• Take our River Cleanup Pledge to pick up trash and help us fill our virtual landfill.
• And more!

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Author: Chelsea Alley

Chelsea is a third-year Environmental Studies student at Hollins University and was a National River Cleanup intern for the month of January, 2018.

The Custer Gallatin National Forest, stretching from Southwest Montana to South Dakota, is midway through a four-year process of revising its forest plan. In January 2018, the forest released its “Proposed Action,” which among other things would administratively protect 31 rivers that were found to be eligible for designation under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act: streams that are (1) free-flowing, and (2) possess at least one outstanding value like scenery or recreation. If these rivers make it into the final plan, 278 miles of free-flowing river in the forest would be administratively protected from projects that would alter their free flow nature or outstanding values.

National Forests are required to inventory and protect the Wild and Scenic eligible rivers in the forest when they revise their forest plans – approximately every 20 years – giving people a once or twice in a lifetime opportunity to weigh in. Please submit a comment supporting these 31 Wild and Scenic eligible streams by March 5, 2018, at: cgplanrevision@fs.fed.us with subject line “Comment – draft plan – CGNF” Please recommend that they add the Taylor Fork River (pictured above) as well – it deserves it!

The Custer Gallatin National Forest Plan Revision is just one of many such processes that American Rivers is engaged in to protect wild rivers in celebration of the 50^th Anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 2018. With our partners, we plan to protect 5,000 miles of wild rivers and collect 5,000 stories. Visit the 5,000 Miles of Wild website to read some of the stories that we have gathered, explore the regions that we are trying to protect, and maybe even share a story of your own. Hopefully you’ll come away inspired to help us celebrate the 50^th birthday of the strongest river protection designation in the world.

From the Chena River in Alaska to the St. Lucie in Stuart, Florida individuals and groups got their hands dirty for clean water throughout 2017. This past year, National River Cleanup®:

• Registered cleanups at 1,877 sites,
• Mobilized 65,614 volunteers,
• Removed 3,008,259 pounds of trash, and
• Kept roughly 10,000 pieces of garbage and debris out of our waterways.

Behind these numbers are people – volunteers and organizers who worked tirelessly to ensure our rivers were left cleaner and safer than how we found them.

To honor these individuals and groups, we launched the National River Cleanup River Heroes program in 2016. This year, we brought this recognition program back under a new name (Cleanup Champions) so we can shine a light on all the great work taking place across the country. The categories for this year’s awards were:

• Most River Miles Cleaned
• Most Pounds of Trash Collected
• Most Volunteers Mobilized
• Tiny but Mighty
• NEW: Cleanup to Watch

For each of the first three categories, we crowned a large-scale (ten or more cleanup sites) and a mid-sized (nine or fewer sites) event with the coveted title. In addition, we named a few honorable mentions. Click here to see the full list of winners and honorable mentions.

Curious to learn more about the winners? I reached out to a few to learn a bit more about their cleanups. Check out what they had to say:

The Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA): This group was 2016’s top River Hero for “Most Volunteers Mobilized,” and this year they secured the spot by drawing 100 more volunteers! “For the past 18 years, the Annual Charles River Cleanup has been a day to celebrate Earth Day and engage individuals in community service. Helping to connect individuals with the environment, the Cleanup increases understanding of environmental stewardship and furthers the CRWA’s mission to preserve, protect, and enhance the Charles River. Uniting over 3,000 volunteers to clean up the entire length of the Charles River, participants in the cleanup volunteers can easily connect their daily habits to the trash they pull out and around the Charles River.”

MIchigan Clean Up Our River Banks (CUORB): “Little over a year old but 1600+ tires, too many bags of litter to count and too much scrap metal to move has been taken out or located to be for next spring. Bring on 2018!”

Pearl Riverkeeper: “In three short months, volunteers from all walks of life and demographics helped us plan a river cleanup across 15 Mississippi counties and two Louisiana parishes. Our inaugural event was a giant success with over 1,000 volunteers cleaning 34,000 pounds of trash out of the Pearl River watershed. It was an inspirational event that highlighted just how much the Pearl River means to us all.”

Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR): “EPCAMR works with dozens of coalfield communities throughout…PA that have been previously impacted by abandoned mines and provides financial and technical assistance to them yearly to conduct cleanups along stream corridors and on landscapes that have been littered with illegal dumping. Centralia holds a special place in the hearts of the EPCAMR Staff. Many former residents come from out of state to support the cleanup efforts every year and this was our 4th.”

Teddy Bear Project: “Teddy Bear Project began in Rockaway Park (Queens), New York…to engage volunteer[s] in partnership with St. Francis De Sales Quilting Bee…Teddy Bear Project lost everything in Hurricane Sandy but relocated to [the] Bronx River in West Farms Square, Bronx. [The group’s] mission “All Things Warm & Fuzzy” found new purpose, however. The new goals include the power of volunteers, but the new community has a river in which [a] serious call for action is necessary.”

CT River Conservancy (CRC): “2017 was a celebratory year for CRC, marking both our 65th anniversary as the voice for the CT River and our 21st year organizing the Source to Sea Cleanup. The Cleanup is a unique 4-state effort with over 2,500 volunteers in 170+ local groups and fits into our broader work of caring for and protecting our rivers, keeping them clean & beautiful for the wildlife and recreationists that depend on them, and educating and engaging people to get more involved in their rivers. CRC uses trash data collected during the cleanup to support legislation and other efforts to keep trash out of our rivers. That includes expanding bottle bills to put a deposit on more plastic bottles, making curbside recycling easier and more accessible, and requiring tire manufacturers to run free tire disposal programs to discourage illegal tire dumping.”

Friends of the White River: “In 2017, we held our 29th annual Spring Downtown Cleanup. This is our largest event, totally land-based, through downtown Indianapolis. Look for a special big event in 2018, celebrating our 30th year!”

It goes without saying that National River Cleanup® wouldn’t exist without our 2017 Cleanup Champions and hundreds of others who register with us each year. Because of these organizers and their deeply-valued volunteers, we are able to work toward a future of trash-free rivers, creeks, and streams.