America’s

Most Endangered Rivers

of 2004

W W W . A M E R I C A N R I V E R S . O R G

A O L K E Y W O R D : A M E R I C A N R I V E R S

ten rivers reaching the crossroads

in the next 12 months

About America’s Most Endangered Rivers

Each year since 1986, American Rivers and its partners in the river movement have releasedthe America’s Most Endangered Rivers report to highlight rivers nationwide reaching crucialcrossroads. The report highlights acute threats rather than chronic conditions; it is not a listof the nation’s “worst” or most polluted rivers.

American Rivers solicits nominations annually from thousands of river groups, conserva-tion organizations, outdoor clubs, and individual activists. Our staff and scientific advisorsreview the nominations for the following criteria:

■ The magnitude of the threat to the river■ A major decision point in the coming year affecting that threat■ The regional and national significance of the river

This report does more than list problems; it highlights alternatives and solutions, identifies those who will make the crucial decisions, and points out opportunities for thepublic to take action on behalf of each listed river. America’s Most Endangered Rivers has a distinguished track record of improved public policy decisions that benefit listed rivers.

Recognizing that the threats facing the listed rivers are seldom unique, each reportincludes a special chapter that explores a broader issue suggested by the rivers on the listthat year. This year’s report explores how new loopholes and lax enforcement of clean waterlaws will accelerate the trend towards more polluted rivers nationwide.

about american rivers

American Rivers, founded in 1973, is the leader of a nationwide river conservation move-ment. American Rivers is dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy natural rivers, andthe variety of life they sustain, for the benefit of people, fish and wildlife.

On the Cover:

America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2004 (left to right): Snake River (#3), Ingredients include: hot

water, chopped up salmon, invasive predators; Tennessee River (#4), Ingredients include: water, sewage,

E. coli, dysentery, hepatitis, cryptosporidium; Allegheny and Monongahela rivers (#5), Ingredients

include: water, acid, iron, aluminum, manganese; Colorado River (#1), Ingredients include: water, uranium,

nitrates, ammonium perchlorate, ammonia; Peace River (#8), Ingredients include: water, clay, uranium,

radium; Housatonic River (#7), Ingredients include: water, PCBs; Big Sunflower River (#2), Ingredients

include: water, DDT, toxaphene; Spokane River (#6), Ingredients include: water, sewage, lead, arsenic, zinc,

and cadmium; Mississippi River (#10), Ingredients include: water, sediment, nutrients, pesticides; Big Darby

Creek (#9), Ingredients may soon include: stormwater, trash, sediment, fertilizer, automotive fluids

Photo of bottles by Harriet Wise. Photo credits for bottle labels which contain photos: Allegheny and Mononga-

hela rivers: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Colorado River: Tim Palmer; Peace River: Environmental PR Group;

Housatonic River: ClarkeOutdoors.com; Big Sunflower River: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Spokane River:

photo courtesy Sierra Club; Big Darby Creek: copyright Jim Murtha

Design: Gallagher/Wood Design

Printing: Laser Image

This publication made possible by a generous gift from Barbara B. Cohn.

Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s

Introduction

Back to the Future: the Forgotten Lesson of the Colorado River . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Wetlands and Streams at Risk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

National Vision and Local Action Lead to Cleaner Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Map: Most Endangered Rivers of 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Most Endangered Rivers (by rank)

1. Colorado River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

2. Big Sunflower River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

3. Snake River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

4. Tennessee River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

5. Allegheny and Monongahela rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

6. Spokane River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

7. Housatonic River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

8. Peace River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

9. Big Darby Creek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

10. Mississippi River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

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RY have passed, the White House and Congress

are deliberately carving giant loopholes intothe clean water laws and regulations writtenby earlier leaders who sought to spare otherrivers from the Colorado’s fate.

They are doing so with the generousencouragement of corporate lobbyists. Theenvironmental group Earthjustice estimatesthat America’s most polluting industries spentmore than $44 million on the 2000 election —giving the largest slice by far to the Bush-Cheney campaign. After the election, the Sen-ate approved the appointments of manycampaign contributors to federal positionsthat regulate polluting activities.

Senator James Jeffords (I-VT) describes thecurrent administration’s record as a series of“pervasive actions to undermine our cleanwater laws.” Here are some highlights:

For the past three years, the White Houseand Congress have cut the budget to enforceenvironmental laws — with unfortunateresults. In December 2003, Knight Riddernewspapers reported that the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing lessthan half as many “violation notices” to pol-luters as it was before President Bush tookoffice. The size of the fines imposed on viola-tors has dropped, as well.

Polluters have clearly taken advantage ofthis lax enforcement. In June 2003, the EPAconcluded that about one-fourth of the

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B a c k t o t h e f u t u r e : T h e f o r g o t t e n

The Colorado River, architect of theGrand Canyon, is America’s Most

Endangered River of 2004. As a story of onegeneration’s environmental neglect burdeningthe next, it offers a lesson for our times.

During the Cold War, the U.S. governmentinsulated its contractors from scrutiny as theyraced to build a winning arsenal. Along theway, they left behind a mountain of cancer-causing radioactive waste piled along the

banks of the Colorado River inUtah and spilled millions of gal-lons of rocket fuel along a tribu-tary in Nevada. Foresight couldhave prevented this, but theprospect of poisoning the riverwas an afterthought at the time.

This shortsighted cost cuttinghas left a heavy burden for thisgeneration. Trace amounts of thetoxic rocket fuel are found in

both the Colorado River and in produce irri-gated with its water. No scientist can say forsure if the levels of exposure are safe. Manyfear that a flood or earthquake will sweep theradioactive pile into the river someday.Cleanup of these two sites could cost taxpay-ers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Although the days of pleading ignoranceabout the consequences of water pollution

SEWAGE IN OUR WATER

CAUSES UP TO 3.5 MILLION

ILLNESSES PER YEAR.

The White House and

Congress are carving

giant loopholes

into America’s clean

water laws

and regulations.

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I n t r o d u c t i o n ◆ 5

l e s s o n o f t h e C o l o r a d o R i v e r

of pipes is compounded by pollution runningoff the land and the destruction of wetlandsand streams. One of the most destructive andpolluting land uses is “mountaintop removal”coal mining, a practice that has already buriedmore than 720 miles of streams and damaged1,200 more in the Ohio River watershed inrecent years.

In August 2001, Deputy Interior SecretarySteven Griles, a former coal lobbyist, assuredthe West Virginia Coal Association that theBush administration “places importance onincreasing coal production and reducing thebarriers that could prevent its development.”

On Griles’s watch, the Interior Departmenthas worked steadily to remove restrictions onmining along stream banks or dumping minerubble and refuse in streambeds, despite clearevidence documenting the spike in flooding,acid drainage, and toxic heavy metals down-stream.

Rules that protect wetlands and smallstreams — which soak up both pollution andfloodwaters and provide a home for wildlife —are a favorite target of real estate developersand coal companies. The real estate industrydonated more than $4.3 million to the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2000, the campaign’sthird-most generous supporter.

In January 2002, the administration issuedblanket nationwide permits that aid developersby liberalizing the construction of shoppingcenters, tract housing, and corporate campuseson wetlands and in flood-prone areas. One yearlater, the Bush administration ordered federalfield staff to stop protecting millions of acresof wetlands and to get approval from Washing-ton superiors before protecting millions more— about 20 percent of the remaining wetlandsand many stream miles.

Scientific data makes it clear that this isnot the time to yank teeth out of the nation’sclean water laws. While America’s watersbecame progressively cleaner from 1973 to1998, that trend has now reversed itself. Themost recent data from 2000 suggests that 40percent of our rivers, 46 percent of our lakes,and over half our estuaries are too polluted forfishing or swimming.

Once again, EPA made this data public only

nation’s largest industrial plants and watertreatment facilities were in “significant non-compliance” with water pollution standards atany one time. More than 10 percent of thoselawbreakers were dumping 10 times more pol-lution than allowed into local streams andrivers.

The public only learned about this aftersomeone leaked a copy of the audit to a Wash-ington Post reporter.

On his first day in office, President Bushtabled a proposal to require wastewater treat-ment plants to notify the public when they

HUMAN AND ANIMAL EXCRE-

MENT CAN MAKE WATER

UNSAFE TO TOUCH. TOXIC

CHEMICALS AND HEAVY

METALS CAN MAKE WATER

UNSAFE TO DRINK AND FISH

UNSAFE TO EAT.

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While America’s

waters became

progressively

cleaner from

1973 to 1998,

that trend has

now reversed

itself.

spilled raw sewage into local streams andrivers. This silence can be deadly. EPA scien-tists estimate that up to 3.5 million Ameri-cans get sick each year from germs found insewage-laced water. The young and the old aremost likely to die from resulting diseases suchas hepatitis and dysentery.

In November 2003, the administration fol-lowed up by proposing to sanction “blending”fully and partially treated sewage beforedumping it into rivers, asking only that theutility determine (for itself) that rainwaterrushing into the sewer made it necessary. Thisyear, having thrown away the stick, the Bushadministration withheld the carrots, too. TheWhite House asked Congress to cut theamount of money that EPA will loan to com-munities for sewage treatment upgrades bymore than one-third — almost half a billiondollars — for 2005.

Pollution pouring into America’s rivers out

6 ◆ A m e r i c a ’ s M o s t E n d a n g e r e d R i v e r s o f 2 0 0 4

b a c k t o t h e f u t u r e c o n t i n u e d

after American Rivers and its partners filed aFreedom of Information Act request for it.

Americans can expect to see this trendtowards dirtier water accelerate as pollutersacross the country exploit new loopholes inclean water laws. American Rivers is prepar-ing for a bumper crop of appeals from frustrat-ed communities all across the country

wanting to highlight new perils for theirhometown rivers in future editions of thisendangered rivers report.

The lesson of the endangered ColoradoRiver is that relaxing environ-mental vigilance imposeshuge burdens on thenext generation.Americans believethat clean water isa right — not aprivilege — andthey expect leader-ship — not secrecy —from Washington on aproblem that transcends state and local boundaries.

Without a change in course, we are headedback to the future. “By 2016,” former EPAAdministrator Christine Whitman warned in areport on sewage released prior to her depar-ture, “pollution levels could be similar to lev-els observed in the mid-1970s.”

Rebecca R. WodderPresidentAmerican Rivers

ESTUARIES — THE MOUTHS

OF RIVERS — RECEIVE

POLLUTION FROM EVERY

RIVER AND STREAM IN THEIR

WATERSHED.

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We All Live Downstream:PERCENTAGE OF IMPAIRED ESTUARIES

37% 38%

44%

51%

1994 1996 1998 2000N

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through groundwater, wet weather overflows,and the movement of wildlife.

Comments from states to EPA confirm theongoing threat the policy guidance poses:

“Any extensive change to the scope of streamsand wetlands subject to the jurisdiction of theClean Water Act would reverse 30 years ofprogress that has been achieved.”

— Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection

“While it is hard to show the impact on flood-ing from the loss of one wetland, the cumula-tive impact from the loss of wetlands can bestaggering. Isolated wetlands have an impor-tant role in storing floodwaters.”

— Association of State Floodplain Managers

With 60,000 acres of wetlands lost each yeareven before this guidance was issued, this policymust be halted. To reaffirm that the originalClean Water Act intended to protect all watersof the United States, lawmakers have draftedthe Clean Water Authority Restoration Act.Enactment of this bill would eliminate ques-tions about what is and isn’t protected by clari-fying that Congress’s original intent was for theClean Water Act to cover all waters.

Concerned citizens ready to speak out again— this time to their representatives in the U.S.Congress — can learn more at www.savethe-cleanwateract.org.

I n t r o d u c t i o n ◆ 7

Public outcry avertsgraver threat

In January 2003, the Bush administrationprovoked a firestorm of opposition with a

pair of actions that threaten wetlands andstreams across the country. The first was toissue policy guidance that jeopardizes protec-tions for some 20 million acres of wetlandsand many small streams. The second was tolaunch a process to completely exclude thoseand other waters from the Clean Water Act.Documents leaked to the Los Angeles Timessuggested that agency insiders were contem-plating a sweeping reduction in the scope ofthe law.

The public had other ideas. Some 133,000citizens, scientists, conservation watchdogs,river groups, and hunting and fishing organiza-tions contacted EPA — 99 percent of themprotesting the proposal. Thirty-nine states and244 members of the U.S. Congress also spokeout in opposition to the move. In the end, thisoutpouring of public and expert oppositionconvinced administration insiders that theycould not completely gut the Act. On Dec. 16,2003, EPA Administrator Mike Leavittannounced that the administration would notofficially write whole classes of waters out ofthe Clean Water Act.

As sweet as the victory was, it did notremove the threat to clean water. Administra-tor Leavitt left the destructive policy guidancein place that imposes a double standard, leav-ing federal field staff free not to protect wet-lands and streams. These staff must getapproval from supervisors in Washingtonbefore protecting certain classes of streamsand wetlands, but not if they choose to lookthe other way when those waters are pollutedor developed.

The wetlands and streams at risk are asvital to water quality, flood control andhuman health as any other wetland andstream. The best-known category of threat-ened waters is prairie potholes, where up to 70percent of North America’s duck populationoriginates. The administration erroneouslycalls these and many other types of wetlands“isolated,” a term that does not appear in thelaw. The wetlands are connected to others

AS WETLANDS DISAPPEAR,

FLOODS BECOME MORE

FREQUENT AND SEVERE.

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W e t l a n d s a n d s t r e a m s a t r i s k

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The Clean

Water Act is

a daily tool

for the

growing river

movement.

RIVER ACTIVISTS KEEP ONE EYE ON THEIR LOCAL

STREAMS — AND ONE EYE ON WASHINGTON.

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N a t i o n a l v i s i o n a n d l o c a l

For more than 30 years, the CleanWater Act has been a cornerstone of

America’s efforts to protect public health andimprove the quality of our environment. Ourwaters and rivers are healthier and safer thanthey were before the Act was passed. The Actnot only commits the nation to cleaning upits rivers and streams, it provides the publicwith opportunities to hold government agen-cies, polluters, and developers accountable.

All across the country, there is a growingriver movement — citizens exercising theirrights under the Clean Water Act to improvetheir communities by restoring rivers andstreams. As they go about their business, theykeep one eye trained on Washington D.C.,where congressional and agency actions havethe potential to bolster or scuttle years ofwork. Here are some of their stories:

Beth Stewart, Cahaba River SocietyBeth Stewart, executive director of the Birm-ingham, Ala.-based Cahaba River Society,breathed a sigh of relief when the Bush admin-istration backed down from its threats toremove the Clean Water Act’s protections

from many small streams and wetlands. Herorganization battles polluters on headwaterstreams that feed the Cahaba.

“Eliminating protections for small streamsignores watershed science,” charged Stewart.“Dumping pollution into a small stream canhurt water quality just as much as dumping itinto a major river.”

The Cahaba River serves as the drinkingwater source for Birmingham-area residents —one-fourth of Alabama’s population — sowater quality in the river is an especially sen-sitive issue. The river is also a remarkablyrich ecosystem, with more species of fish permile than any other river in North America.The Nature Conservancy designated it as oneof eight river “Biodiversity Hotspots” in theUnited States.

Stewart said the Cahaba watershed andwaters throughout Alabama need strong feder-al water protection requirements becauseAlabama’s Department of EnvironmentalManagement is “dysfunctional, underfundedand weak on enforcement.”

“Our state agency already takes the leastprotective interpretation of federal require-ments possible,” Stewart explained. “If thefederal government does not clearly requireclean water in certain situations, our state agency is likely to cut that from theirprogram.”

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I n t r o d u c t i o n ◆ 9

RIVER CONSERVATION MEANS

ENJOYING THE PRESENT AND

PROVIDING FOR THE FUTURE.

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a c t i o n l e a d t o c l e a n e r w a t e r

Nelson Ross, TennesseeIzaak Walton LeagueWhile it backed off from a wholesale guttingof clean water protections, the Bush adminis-tration continues to dole out favors in theform of loopholes and exemptions sought bypolluting interests. One EPA proposal wouldallow sewage plants to mix partially untreat-ed sewage with fully treated sewage duringheavy rains. By allowing these facilities toskip a treatment process, EPA would be sanc-tioning the release of disease-causing viruses,parasites, pathogens and diseases into riversand other waters.

This prospect worries Nelson Ross, whoseKnoxville, Tenn., office overlooks the Ten-nessee River. Ross, executive director of theTennessee Izaak Walton League, said that pol-lution levels in a troubled river would beworsened. “EPA’s new sewage blending pro-posal,” he complained, “is exactly what theTennessee River doesn’t need.”

“By making it easier to dump sewage inthe river, the EPA is rewarding sewage treat-ment utilities for dragging their feet on main-

tenance and upgrades,”lamented Ross, who

describes the Ten-nessee River’swater quality as“compromised.”

“Wastewatertreatment plants

in Knoxville,” hereported, “released a

billion and a half gal-lons of partially untreated

sewage into the Tennessee River in 2003.”Ross also worries about 325 sewage overflowsthat dumped nearly 9 million gallons of rawsewage into urban streams which flow intothe river during that same year.

According to Ross, EPA’s new sewageblending proposal would result in more inci-dents of this nature and less recourse for citi-zens who want to stop the release ofinadequately treated sewage into waters nearthem.

Wayne Freeman, GreatRivers Habitat AllianceSewage plants are big, obvious polluters, butpollution also washes into rivers from fields,lawns, parking lots, and roads, as well. Tack-ling this type of pollution requires a differentapproach.

Wayne Freeman, who directs the GreatRivers Habitat Alliance in St. Louis, relies onthe Clean Water Act in his fight againsturban sprawl in river floodplains. Section 404of the law recognizes the link between wet-lands and cleaner water, and requires devel-opers to get federal approval before digging upor filling wetlands. Freeman keeps a close eyeon applications and permits. When some-thing is amiss, he sounds the alarm. If neces-sary, the law gives him the tools to take legalaction.

“Without section 404 of the Clean WaterAct, we wouldn’t have a lever to push forsound land-use planning on floodplains,”Freeman said.

Severe flooding in the 1990s along theMississippi and Missouri rivers should haveinspired more respect for the ways of these

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national vision / local action c o n t i n u e d

large rivers, butFreeman points to astring of recentdevelopment pro-posals on frequentlyflooded lands nearSt. Louis that arekeeping him busy.Some developmentis proposed for areasthat just a decadeago were covered by10 feet of water. Bydefending wetlands,

Freeman protects both clean water and theresidents and businesses that might other-wise end up in harm’s way.

“Some of the land to be developed isn’tjust in the floodplain,” exclaims Freeman,“it is in that part of the floodplain most vulnerable to flooding.”

The provisions of the Clean Water Actare useful not just for protecting wetlandsand streams from development. The Act’s

Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) programrequires states and EPA to identify rivers,lakes and coastal waters that are impaired bypolluted runoff, to assess the sources of thepollution, to develop cleanup plans, and tomonitor the success of the plans.

Bob Zimmerman, Charles River WatershedAssociationVisitors to Boston often take home beautifulpictures of crew teams rowing on the CharlesRiver at twilight. Bob Zimmerman, executivedirector of the Charles River Watershed Asso-ciation, sees the river in a different light.“We identified the Charles as an impaired,dirty river,” said Zimmerman, “and we initi-ated a program in 1994 that stopped thedumping of 1 million gallons of raw sewageeach day into the last 10 miles of the river.”

Zimmerman’s organization and EPA thendeveloped a TMDL program to clean up thepolluted urban runoff. “We’re now in thehardest part of the clean-up,” he explained.

RIVER CONSERVATIONISTS SAVE

THEIR HOMETOWN RIVERS WITH

THEIR HEARTS, THEIR HANDS,

AND THEIR VOICES.

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CLEAN WATER LEADS TO HAPPY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES.

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American Rivers gratefully acknowledges thefollowing organizations for their contributionsto this report and their ongoing efforts to savethe rivers on this year’s list.

ALABAMA RIVERS ALLIANCE

BRACY TUCKER BROWN

CHARLOTTE COUNTY COMMISSION

COLORADO RIVER REGIONAL

SEWER COALITION

COLUMBIA RIVER INTER-TRIBAL

FISH COMMISSION

DARBY CREEK ASSOCIATION

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE

ENVIRONMENTAL FEDERATION OF

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP

FRIENDS OF THE CHEAT RIVER

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

GRAND CANYON TRUST

GULF RESTORATION NETWORK

HARDEE COUNTY CITIZENS AGAINST

POLLUTION

HOUSATONIC ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION

LEAGUE

HOUSATONIC RIVER INITIATIVE

IDAHO CONSERVATION LEAGUE

IDAHO RIVERS UNITED

ILLINOIS STEWARDSHIP ALLIANCE

INSTITUTE FOR AGRICULTURE AND

TRADE POLICY

KENTUCKY WATERWAYS ALLIANCE

LAKE HAVASU CITY, ARIZ.

MANASOTA-88

MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN ALLIANCE

NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION

NORTHWEST SPORTFISHING INDUSTRY

ASSOCIATION

PACIFIC COAST FEDERATION OF

FISHERMEN’S ASSOCIATIONS

PENNSYLVANIA ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL

SAVE OUR WILD SALMON

SIERRA CLUB, MISSISSIPPI CHAPTER

SIERRA CLUB, NEVADA CHAPTER

SIERRA CLUB, UPPER COLUMBIA

RIVER GROUP

TENNESSEE CLEAN WATER NETWORK

TENNESSEE IZAAK WALTON LEAGUE

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY

WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA COALITION FOR

ABANDONED MINE RECLAMATION

Zimmerman and his organization are pur-suing cutting edge approaches to protect andrestore the Charles. Innovative runoff con-trols, low impact development planning, envi-ronmental zoning, and the protection of landscritical to aquifer and river recharge are a fewof the programs underway to restore a morenatural water cycle to the river.

And the progress has been significant. TheCharles, Zimmerman says, is now swimmable92 percent of the time, compared to 39 per-cent of the time in 1995. “The river has madea big comeback, and TMDLs are helping usestablish new approaches to restoring and pro-tecting the river.”

Conservationists like Bob Zimmerman,Wayne Freeman, Nelson Ross, and Beth Stew-art are not alone. They are just four of themany committed citizens involved in count-less state and local watershed groups who arestriving for cleaner water in communitiesthroughout the nation.

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America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2004

2

1. COLORADO RIVER

2. BIG SUNFLOWER RIVER

3. SNAKE RIVER

4. TENNESSEE RIVER

5. ALLEGHENY & MONONGAHELA RIVERS

6. SPOKANE RIVER

7. HOUSATONIC RIVER

8. PEACE RIVER

9. BIG DARBY CREEK

10. MISSISSIPPI RIVER

1

C o l o r a d o R i v e r ◆ 1 3

C O L O R A D O , U T A H , N E VA D A , A R I Z O N A , C A L I F O R N I A

THREAT: LOOMING POLLUTION CRIS IS

#1 C o l o r a d o R i v e r

LEFT: COMMUNITIES ALONG

THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER

ARE STRUGGLING TO PROVIDE

WASTEWATER TREATMENT TO

THEIR BOOMING POPULATIONS.

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SummaryWhile conflict over Colorado River waterallocations has grabbed headlines for years,water pollution problems from human waste,toxic chemicals, and radioactive material havebeen largely overlooked and threaten to getmuch worse. Unless Congress and the federalgovernment step in to bolster local cleanupefforts, the drinking water for 25 millionAmericans will remain at risk.

The RiverThe Colorado River starts as melting snow inthe Rocky Mountains. Covering almost250,000 square miles, the river basin includesportions of seven states and more than 20Indian nations. Despite the vastness of its

As much as 20 percent of the river’s waterevaporates from the reservoirs behind thedams each year. Several of the river’s nativewildlife species are extinct, and others nearlyso. Most years, the river literally evaporatesshortly after crossing the border into Mexico.The once vast and rich delta at the river’smouth in the Gulf of California has virtuallydisappeared as a result.

The RiskThree major sources of pollution are seepinginto the Colorado River via contaminatedgroundwater. Some efforts are being made toaddress each of them, but more aggressive andbetter-coordinated action is needed to protectthe health of the river, the 25 million Ameri-cans who drink its water, and the wildlife andparks found along it.

Human waste from riverfront boomtownsin California and Arizona contaminates theriver below Hoover Dam. This area has thelargest concentration of people in the UnitedStates using septic tanks. The overloaded sep-tic systems allow increasing quantities ofnitrates to seep into groundwater and the Col-orado River. Monitoring wells in the LakeHavasu area have recorded nitrate levels fourtimes higher than the limits set by the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protectthe public health. High nitrate levels in drink-ing water can deplete oxygen in infants’ blood(“blue baby” syndrome) and are suspected tocause certain types of cancer. An estimated1.2 million pounds of nitrates will seep intothe regional aquifer between 2001 and 2005.

Riverfront communities in Arizona andCalifornia rec-ognize the prob-lem and areraising capitalon their own toupgrade waste-water treatmentcapacities. Theycould use somehelp, but inrecent years fed-eral assistanceto states for

watershed, the Colorado is a small river,annually averaging only about 1 percent of theMississippi River’s yearly flows.

As the river winds across the ColoradoPlateau, the ranches, mines, and reservationsof the Old West uneasily share the landscapewith the national parks, ski resorts, and sub-urban sprawl of the New West. When the riverpours out of the Grand Canyon in Arizona itenters the Sonoran Desert, where a shortage ofwater has failed to curb explosive populationgrowth in recent decades.

The Colorado is one of the most intensive-ly used — and abused — river basins in Amer-ica. More than 40 major dams and diversionssiphon water from the river and its tributaries.

1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006TO TO TO TO TO TO TO

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

1,500,000

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LAKE HAVASU CITY, ARIZ. NITRATE DATA

NITRATE ENTERING GROUNDWATER ALONG THECOLORADO RIVER OVER EACH 5-YEAR PERIOD

SOURCE: COLORADO RIVER REGIONAL SEWER COALITION

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wastewater treatment facilities has been cutby more than 10 percent, and the current

administration proposes slashingsome 30 percent — half a billiondollars — from loan programs forfacility upgrades.

A second type of contamina-tion is an ingredient in rocketfuel called perchlorate, whichhas been measured in Lake Meadat concentrations as high as 24parts per billion. Although no

federal health standard for perchlorate hasbeen set, low concentrations can interferewith proper thyroid function and disrupt thebody’s normal hormonal balance. The poten-tial health effects of perchlorate are especiallysignificant for children because disturbancesin thyroid levels during development can leadto lowered IQ, mental retardation, and theloss of hearing, speech and motor skills. TheLas Vegas Valley Water District is unable toremove perchlorate from water piped to itsresidential customers. Lettuce and other leafyvegetables irrigated with Colorado River watercontain trace amounts of the chemical — andare found on supermarket shelves across thecountry during winter months.

The source of perchlorate in the river is afacility in Henderson, Nev., where the govern-ment produced missile fuel during the ColdWar. The plant is now operated by Kerr-McGee Corporation, which has already spent$80 million to reduce the volume of polluted

groundwater reachingthe river. However,more than 400 poundsof perchlorate stillflow from the facilitytoward Lake Meadeach day.

The third pollutionsource is radioactivemill waste from adefunct facility alongthe Colorado Rivernear Moab, Utah.With almost 12 mil-lion tons of radioac-tive material stored in

a crude, unlined impoundment on the river-bank, the former Atlas Minerals Corporationsite is the fifth largest and single most danger-ous uranium tailings pile in the country. Anestimated 110,000 gallons of radioactivegroundwater seep into the river each day fromthis site. Uranium is one of the few carcino-gens considered dangerous at any level, andlevels in the river increase by 1,660 percent inthe vicinity of the Atlas site.

Although the precise contribution from theAtlas site is unknown, Southern California’sMetropolitan Water District has measuredgradually increasing levels of radioactivity inthe river hundreds of miles downstream at itsLake Havasu intake, where the drinking waterfor 16 million people is withdrawn from theriver. The National Academy of Sciences haswarned that it is “nearly certain that the river’scourse will run across the Moab site sometimein the future,” flooding about a half ton ofradioactive material for every man, woman,and child that drinks Colorado River water.

The 12-Month OutlookThe Colorado River is at a crossroads, and thenext 12 months will determine whether theseproblems will continue to fester or a vigorouscleanup effort will begin. The situation as awhole warrants a massive, coordinated federaleffort, and there are immediate steps thatshould be taken to address these pollutionsources.

The Department of Energy (DOE) will final-ize its plans for the radioactive mill tailings atthe Atlas site before the end of 2004. Conserva-tionists believe the best option is to completelyremove the mill tailings and contaminated soilfrom the river floodplain, but the DOE has sig-naled that it will likely choose less protectiveoptions that would not provide sufficient secu-rity in the event of a major flood. DOE shouldnot allow cost to dictate its choices. It shouldcommit to the most thorough cleanup possiblewith current technology.

In the 2004 session of Congress, lawmakerswill consider proposals to expand exemptionsfrom environmental laws for the Departmentof Defense. Conservationists fear these couldlet the military off the hook for its share of the

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PRODUCE ON SUPERMARKET

SHELVES ACROSS THE COUN-

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C o l o r a d o R i v e r ◆ 1 5

cleanup responsibilities at the Kerr-McGeesite and elsewhere. Congress should rejectthose bills and direct EPA to set a scientifical-ly valid drinking water standard for perchlo-rate that will protect human health.

Also in the 2004 session of Congress, law-makers will consider President Bush’s propos-al for sharp cuts in EPA’s “State RevolvingLoan Funds” program that assists state effortswith loans to upgrade drinking water andwastewater treatment. Funding shortages arethe leading reason that communities struggleto meet their obligations to protect water theysend downstream. Congress should fully fundthis vital program.

In addition, Congress should recognize thatthe interstate nature of pollution problems inthe Colorado River warrant a stronger federalrole in cleanup. Congress should direct federaland state agencies to develop a binding actionplan and authorize federal funding to restorewater quality throughout the river basin —including addressing nitrates, perchlorate, andradioactive materials.

The lingering contamination and staggeringremediation costs at the Kerr-McGee andAtlas sites provide a stark reminder that pre-venting pollution in the first place or cleaningit at the source is always preferable to clean-ing it later. Congress should step up its over-sight of the Bush administration’s

IT MAY BE ONLY A MATTER

OF TIME BEFORE A FLOOD OR

EARTHQUAKE SENDS 11

MILLION TONS OF RADIOAC-

TIVE WASTE FROM THE ATLAS

URANIUM MILL INTO THE

COLORADO RIVER.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO TAKE ACTION:WWW.AMERICANRIVERS.ORG/COLORADO2004.HTML

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enforcement and interpretation of the CleanWater Act and pass the Clean Water AuthorityRestoration Act in the 2004 session to end thelingering debate over which waters are pro-tected by federal law.

ContactsERIC ECKL, American Rivers, (202) 347-7550ext. 3023, eeckl@americanrivers.orgBRENT BLACKWELDER, Friends of the Earth,(877) 843-8687, bblackwelder@foe.orgTERRY BRACY, Bracy Tucker Brown, (202)429-8855, tlbracy@aol.comBILL HEDDEN, Grand Canyon Trust, (928)774-7488, hedden@grandcanyontrust.orgERIC WESSELMAN, Sierra Club, (510) 622-0290 ext. 240, eric.wesselman@sierraclub.orgROBERT GLENNON, University of Arizona,(520) 621-1614, glennon@law.arizona.eduTHE HONORABLE BOB WHELAN, Mayor, LakeHavasu City, Ariz., Chair of the ColoradoRiver Regional Sewer Coalition, (928) 453-4140, whelanb@ci.lake-havasu-city.az.usBILL WALKER, Environmental WorkingGroup, (510) 444-0973, bwalker@ewg.org

Mississippi River flyway. The Big Sunflower isalso home to one of the world’s most bounti-ful native mussel beds and more than 50species of fish. The endangered pondberry, anexceptionally rare plant, is found along theriver.

Agriculture drives the region’s economy,and in recent decades farms have consolidatedinto fewer and fewer hands. Soybeans and cot-ton are the primary crops, but due to surplus-es they are profitable only with generousfederal price supports. In a single county alongthe river, just 359 recipients shared more than$73 million in federal crop subsi-dies from 1995 to 2002.State and federal pub-lic lands in the BigSunflower basinannually hosthundreds of thou-sands of hunters,birdwatchers, andother visitors.

The RiskThe Army Corps proposesto build the Yazoo Pumps, the largesthydraulic pumping plant ever built, to siphonup to 6 million gallons of water per minutefrom the Big Sunflower basin. More than threeyears ago, EPA informed the Army Corps thatthe pumps would drain and damage 200,000acres — 300 square miles — of productivewetlands. This sacrifice would be made tointensify farming on marginal lands, and morethan 80 percent of the pumps’ purported eco-nomic benefits would come from increasedproduction of highly subsidized soybean andcotton crops. Even worse, an independentstudy revealed that the Army Corps has over-stated the project’s agricultural benefits by$144 million — more than 75 percent of theestimated $190 million cost to build thepumps.

To boost the harvest of federal subsidychecks, the pumps would undo decades ofeffort and tens of millions of tax dollars spentprotecting and restoring wetlands in theregion. Wetlands that would be damagedinclude those in a national forest, in two

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SummaryA pair of costly flood control boondoggles pro-moted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineersthreatens Mississippi’s Big Sunflower River.Unless the Bush administration’s Environmen-tal Protection Agency (EPA) vetoes the YazooPumps, this single project will drain and dam-age seven times more wetlands than all thenation’s private developers harm in one year.Without firm opposition from EPA and theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the ArmyCorps will also dredge more than 100 miles ofthe Big Sunflower’s riverbed, destroying evenmore wetlands, stirring up a toxic stew of pes-ticides, and endangering the health of thosewho eat fish caught in the river.

The RiverThe slow-moving Big Sunflower meandersthrough ecologically rich and sparsely populat-ed lowlands of northwestern Mississippi. NearVicksburg, the Big Sunflower joins the YazooRiver, which soon after empties into the Mis-sissippi River. Despite extensive clearing foragriculture, the Big Sunflower basin retainsvast wetland areas and bottomland hardwoodforests that teem with wildlife and supportwaterfowl and other migratory birds in the

M I S S I S S I P P I

#2 B i g S u n f l o w e r R i v e rTHREAT: WETLANDS DESTRUCTION AND RIVER DREDGING

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PRODUCTION OF SURPLUS

CROPS.

national wildlife refuges, and on private landsenrolled in the federally funded wetlandsreserve program.

The Big Sunflower also is threatened by a$62 million Army Corps plan to dredge 104miles of riverbed, devastating instream habitat,destroying at least 43 percent of the river’s eco-logically rich mussel beds, and damaging morethan 3,600 acres of wetlands. Dredging will stirup a toxic stew of pesticides, includingDichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) andtoxaphene, that has accumulated on the riverbottom and endanger the health of low incomeand minority residents who regularly eat fishcaught in the river.

Despite the tremendous ecological lossesand public health threats, dredging the BigSunflower will not spare a single acre of landfrom flooding. It will merely reduce the fre-quency and duration of floods that will contin-ue to occur on 55,000 acres of floodplainfarmland.

Effective flood damage reduction can beachieved at far less cost to taxpayers and theenvironment through the purchase of conser-vation easements and targeted flood protectionfor the few residences and businesses in thearea.

The 12-Month OutlookThe Army Corps is expected to recommendthat Congress fund construction of the YazooPumps in an Environmental Impact Statementthat may be finalized in fall 2004. The agencyis scheduled to take the first steps toward rec-ommending the dredging proposal in the next12 months, as well. These actions will provideopportunities for other federal and state agen-cies to exercise their authorities to stop thesedestructive and expensive porkbarrel projects.

The Bush administration EPA should exer-cise its authority under the Clean Water Act toveto the Yazoo Pumps. An EPA veto is amplysupported by the project’s extensive ecologicaldamage, the availability of responsible alterna-tives to protect homes from flooding, and theunjustifiable use of public funds. FWS shouldassert the Endangered Species Act and otherauthorities to the fullest extent to halt theseprojects.

In addition, the state of Mississippi shoulddeny the required Clean Water Act certifica-tions for both the Yazoo Pumps and dredgingthe Big Sunflower River.

B i g S u n f l o w e r R i v e r ◆ 1 7

FEDERAL AND STATE LANDS

IN THE BIG SUNFLOWER

WATERSHED SUPPORT

DIVERSE RECREATIONAL

OPPORTUNITIES.

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Congress should decline to fund thesewasteful projects, and instead implement over-due reforms of the Army Corps’ project plan-ning procedures when it takes up the WaterResources Development Act during the 2004session. Congress should also pass the CleanWater Authority Restoration Act in the 2004session to ensure that wetlands and streams inthe headwaters of the Big Sunflower River willcontinue to be protected as they have been forthe last 30 years.

ContactsMELISSA SAMET, AmericanRivers, (415) 482-8150,msamet@americanrivers.orgLOUIE MILLER, MississippiChapter of the Sierra Club,(601) 352-1026,lmillersc@earthlink.netDAVID CONRAD, National Wildlife Federation, (202)797-6697, conrad@nwf.orgCYNTHIA SARTHOU, GulfRestoration Network, (504)525-1528, cyn@gulfrestora-tionnetwork.org

1 8 ◆ A m e r i c a ’ s M o s t E n d a n g e r e d R i v e r s o f 2 0 0 4

WILD SNAKE RIVER SALMON

CONTAIN HEALTHY OMEGA-3

OILS, BUT MOST RUNS ARE

TOO DEPLETED FOR COMMER-

CIAL HARVEST. FARM RAISED

SALMON MAY CONTAIN PCBS

AND OTHER TOXIC CHEMI-

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#3 S n a k e R i v e r THREAT: FEDERAL DAMS

Summary Dams on the Columbia and lower Snakerivers have caused dramatic declines in theSnake River’s once abundant wild salmon pop-ulation, with all the river’s runs either extinctor sliding toward extinction. Studies showthat local economies would benefit from thou-sands of new jobs and hundreds of millions ofnew dollars if wild salmon were restored tothe Snake River. However, unless the Bushadministration delivers a credible plan torebuild wild salmon populations, these eco-nomic opportunities will be lost and our gen-eration could be the last to enjoy theselegendary species.

The RiverOriginating in Yellowstone National Park, theSnake River arcs across southern Idaho beforeturning north along the Idaho-Oregon border.The river then enters Washington and flowswest to the Columbia River. It is the Colum-bia’s largest tributary, and once produced moresalmon and steelhead than any other river inthe Columbia basin.

When Lewis and Clark canoed the lowerSnake River nearly 200 years ago, more than 2million wild salmon and steelhead returnedeach year to spawn in the Snake and its tribu-taries. Four U.S. Army Corps of Engineersdams and 140 miles of slackwater behindthose dams have replaced the free-flowingriver Lewis and Clark traveled. These dams

create a hostile gauntlet of deadly turbinesand warm, stagnant reservoirs full of hungrypredators that have caused dramatic declinesin the Snake River’s salmon runs. It is nowconsidered a good year if wild salmon returnsreach 3 percent of their historical numbers.All the river’s salmon runs are either extinctor threatened with extinction.

In 2003, only two sockeye salmon returnedto Idaho’s Redfish Lake, named after the sock-eye’s spawning color. Aided by recent cyclicalimprovements in ocean conditions, other wildSnake River salmon and steelhead are not asclose to extinction as the sockeye, but thosepopulations remain perilously small.

Despite the grim situation, there is stillhope for wild Snake River salmon. Qualityhabitat awaits salmon upstream of the damsin the Snake River and in tributaries. Scien-tists estimate that the Snake River basin pos-sesses roughly 70 percent of the salmon andsteelhead restoration potential in the entireColumbia basin. Removing the lower SnakeRiver dams would open up the salmon migra-tion route between the sea and that qualityhabitat, and restore spawning beds.

The RiskRecent studies indicate that some farmedsalmon contain high levels of polychlorinatedbiphenyls (PCBs) and other toxins, and shouldbe eaten sparingly. Conversely, wild salmon —thanks to their diet — are much healthier toeat because they contain more heart-friendlyOmega-3 oils and lower concentrations ofchemicals. While wild Snake River salmon,protected under the Endangered Species Act,won’t be a significant portion of many people’sdiet anytime soon, restoring major salmon-producing rivers like the Snake is key toensuring that consumers have a sustainablesource of wild salmon in the future.

Despite the fact that scientists believe thatremoving the four lower Snake River damswould be the surest and best way to recoverwild salmon in the Snake River basin, the fed-eral government’s 2000 Federal Salmon Plandid not call for dam removal. Many of theplan’s 200 actions have not been implementedand a federal court tossed it out in May of

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2003, essentially deeming much of it wishfulthinking.

Snake River salmon are imperiled primarilybecause they must travel through eight damson the Snake and Columbia rivers as theymigrate to and from the ocean. The currentSalmon Plan allows dams to kill up to 88 per-cent of migrating juvenile salmon. Scientistsagree that the plan’s reliance on transportingfish around the dams in trucks and barges willnot lead to salmon recovery.

The goal of the 2000 Salmon Plan was onlyto prevent extinction. This falls far short ofthe vision of Northwest governors, who havecalled for recovering salmon to sustainable,harvestable levels that satisfy federal laws andAmerican Indian fishing rights guaranteed bytreaties.

Achieving abundant wild salmon runswould bolster local economies by adding aconsistent sportfishing industry to the region.A rare salmon angling season in 2001 generat-ed $90 million in Idaho. Commercial and trib-al fishing would also benefit. Restoration ofSnake and Columbia river salmon runs couldyield up to $500 million per year in revenuesto the region and support up to 25,000 addi-tional family wage jobs.

The Army Corps estimates that in theevent that the Snake River dams wereremoved, improved fishing would contributeas much as $65.5 million to the regional econ-omy and that recreation other than fishingwould generate up to $310.5 million per year.

The 12-Month Outlook Under court order, the Bush administrationmust deliver a new salmon plan that satisfiesthe Endangered Species Act by mid-2004.

The Bush administration should deliver aplan that is grounded in science and takes thebold steps necessary to truly recover salmon.The administration should either call for theremoval of the lower Snake River dams or pro-vide evidence that recovery is possible with-out dam removal.

Congress should pass the Salmon PlanningAct (H.R. 1097). The bill would allow lowerSnake River dam removal to be considered onan equal basis with other options, and itwould help local communities maximize thebenefits of dam removal, while minimizingnegative effects. The Salmon Planning Actcurrently has over 100 co-sponsors in the U.S.House of Representatives.

ContactsMICHAEL GARRITY, American Rivers, (206)213-0330 ext.11, mgarrity@americanrivers.orgCHARLES HUDSON, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, (503) 731-1257, hudc@critfc.orgBILL SEDIVY, Idaho Rivers United, (208) 343-7481, bsedivy@idahorivers.orgLIZ HAMILTON, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, (503) 631-8859,nsia.liz@aol.comGLEN SPAIN, Pacific Coast Federation of Fish-ermen’s Associations, (541) 689-2000, fish1ifr@aol.comNICOLE CORDAN, Save Our Wild Salmon,(503) 230-0421 ext.12, nicole@wildsalmon.org

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FOR MORE INFORMATION OR

TO TAKE ACTION:WWW.AMERICANRIVERS.ORG/SNAKE2004.HTML

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T E N N E S S E E , A L A B A M A , M I S S I S S I P P I , K E N T U C K Y

THREAT: INADEQUATE SEWER SYSTEMS

#4 T e n n e s s e e R i v e r

RIGHT: OVERLOADED SEWER

SYSTEMS SEND ALARMING

AMOUNTS OF SEWAGE INTO

THE TENNESSEE RIVER EVERY

YEAR.

SummaryAlong the length of the Tennessee River,overloaded wastewater systems dischargelarge amounts of inadequately treated sewageinto the river with distressing regularity.Unless the Bush administration holds thesesewer systems accountable — and Congressprovides financial assistance — the TennesseeRiver will continue to be deluged withsewage.

The RiverThe Tennessee River and its tributaries formthe fifth largest river system in the UnitedStates, with a watershed covering 41,000square miles. The Tennessee begins at theconfluence of the Holston and the FrenchBroad rivers in the heart of Knoxville, andthen flows 652 miles through four statesbefore it reaches the Ohio River at Paducah,Kentucky.

Like most large river systems in America,the Tennessee River watershed has beenintensively developed. Nine dams plug theriver, generating electricity and supportingcommercial navigation from the Ohio Riverall the way to Knoxville. According to theU.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG),more than three million pounds of toxic sub-stances were discharged into Tennesseewaters in 2000.

Despite the abuse, the Tennessee Riverwatershed is one of the most biologicallydiverse river systems in North America.According to the World Wildlife Fund, theTennessee River and its tributaries are hometo 125 species of freshwater mussels, 96species of snails, and an astonishing 319species of fish — including the legendary snaildarter.

The RiskSuburban sprawl and urban decay clash alongthe length of the Tennessee River, and thepublic is the loser as millions of gallons ofraw or partially treated sewage are accidental-ly or deliberately discharged into the rivereach year.

For example, 1 million gallons of rawsewage poured into the river in January and

February, 2002 near Sheffield, Ala., after a pipein the river burst during heavy rains.

City officials acknowledged that the city’swastewater infrastructure has been neglectedfor decades, with some pipes dating to the19th century, and at least one made fromwood. A few months later, torrential rains inChattanooga, Tenn. overloaded the sewer sys-tem there, flushing raw sewage into areastreets, where it created a health menace forarea residents before flowing into the river,untreated.

Unfortunately, such incidents are commonall along the river, and they occur most oftenin Knoxville. Within the past three years, theKnoxville Utility Board has violated CleanWater Act sewage regulations some 1,000times, dumping more than 1 billion gallons ofraw or partially treated sewage into the riverand streams in Knoxville. A portion of thisdumped sewage results from permits illegallyissued by the state of Tennessee that allowbypassing, a flagrant violation of the CleanWater Act. The Knoxville Utility Board is facing Clean Water Act lawsuits from conser-vationists, the city, the state, and the federalgovernment for its sewage discharges into theriver.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) estimates that exposure to sewage-lacedwater makes as many as 3.5 million Ameri-cans sick each year. Germs found in sewagecause minor gastrointestinal illness and respiratory infections as well as potentially

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ContactsJAMIE MIERAU, American Rivers, (202) 347-7550 ext. 3003, jmierau@americanrivers.orgRENÉE HOYOS, Tennessee Clean Water Net-work, (865) 522-7007, renee@tcwn.orgNELSON ROSS, Tennessee Izaak WaltonLeague, (865) 523-3800, nelson@tnike.comADAM SNYDER, Alabama Rivers Alliance,(205) 322-6395, asnyder@alabamarivers.orgJUDY PETERSEN, Kentucky WaterwaysAlliance, Inc., (270) 524-1774,stella@scrtc.com

CHILDREN AND THE ELDERLY

ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO

GERMS IN UNTREATED

SEWAGE. ILLNESSES RANGE

FROM MILD RESPIRATORY

INFECTIONS TO FATAL CASES

OF DYSENTERY AND HEPATI-

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FOR MORE INFORMATION OR

TO TAKE ACTION:WWW.AMERICANRIVERS.ORG/TENNESSEE2004.HTML

life threatening illnesses like hepatitis anddysentery.

State efforts to address pollution in theriver have lagged. PIRG reports that in 2002the state of Tennessee ranked third in thenation, behind Utah and Texas, for the per-centage of its sewage and industrial facilitiesfalling into the “significant non-compliance”category under Clean Water Act obligations.Fish consumption advisories in 2000 totaled17 in Tennessee, 13 in Alabama and six inKentucky.

The 12-Month OutlookIn almost every instance, the differencebetween clean and sewage-laced water comesdown to enforcing the law and providing thenecessary funding. Two important decisionswill be made in Washington, D.C. during thenext 12 months that will determine whetherthe federal government will be part of thesolution or part of the problem.

For fiscal year 2005, the White House hasagain proposed to slash the amount of moneyin the “State Revolving Loan Funds” that EPAprovides to local communities to improvetheir sewage and drinking water treatmentplants. The administration asked Congress toappropriate only $850 million, a reduction ofalmost half a billion dollars from currentspending levels for this necessary program.Congress should reject these proposed cutsand increase funding for the effort to $3.2 bil-lion instead.

In November 2003, the Bush administra-tion’s EPA proposed to legalize the wastewaterutility practice of “blending” partially andfully treated sewage and dumping the mixinto rivers when rain or melting snow stressestheir capacity. The agency accepted publiccomments through Feb. 9, 2004, and couldissue a final decision at any time. Dilutingsewage before dumping it is not an acceptableapproach to protecting public health – germsbreed in water. EPA should withdraw the pro-posal.

The Knoxville Utility Board should stopadding new sewer connections to its sewagecollection system, particularly those withchronic overflows, until they conduct the nec-essary repairs to sewer lines, pump stations,sewage treatment plants, and other parts oftheir sewer collection system to fully complywith the terms and conditions of the CleanWater Act.

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The Risk The Allegheny-Monongahela watershed con-tains the greatest concentration of abandonedcoal mine sites in the nation. In workingmines, miners pump out groundwater thatwould otherwise fill the shafts where theywork. When the mines are abandoned, thepumps are shut off and the mines slowly fillwith water that leaches acid and toxic materi-als from the coal left in the seam. Eventually,contaminated water fills the mine and “aban-doned mine drainage” (AMD) begins to seepout into the streams and rivers.

Pennsylvania leads the nation in theamount of polluted drainage seeping or flowingfrom abandoned mines. Half of the Pennsylva-nia portion of the Allegheny-Monongahelawatershed has been assessed for water quality,and already 2,188 miles of rivers and streamshave been classified as impaired due to minedrainage. Many tributaries run orange, blue orwhite because seepage and runoff from aban-doned mines carry high concentrations ofheavy metal wastes, such as iron, aluminumand manganese. It has been estimated that itwill cost $780 million to clean up abandonedmines in western Pennsylvania.

On the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohiorivers in Pennsylvania there are 42 publicdrinking water intakes, and each is vulnerableto pollution threats from AMD. Other humanimpacts include damage to thousands of pri-vate wells and shrinking property values. AMDcan also cause fish kills, wipe out aquaticinsects and destroy aquatic habitat. It jeopar-dizes recreational activities such as fishing,boating and park use along the Allegheny,Monongahela and Ohio rivers, uses that havebeen valued at nearly $115 million dollarsannually.

Coal mining was largely unregulated until1977, and most owners of defunct mines havelong since disappeared. Of the nearly 1,200abandoned coal mines in the West Virginia por-tion of the Allegheny-Monongahela watershed,only 11 mines are served by water treatmentprojects. Many of the untreated mines are fill-ing with water and will soon send additionalAMD into surface water. The management andmaintenance of existing and future water treat-

W E S T V I R G I N I A , P E N N S Y LVA N I A , N E W Y O R K

THREAT: POLLUTED DRAINAGE FROM ABANDONED COAL MINES

#5 Allegheny and Monongahela rivers

SummaryThousands of abandoned mines are leakingacid and other toxic substances into streamsthroughout the coal country of western Penn-sylvania and West Virginia. Unless Congressreauthorizes the Abandoned Mine Land TrustFund, ongoing efforts to treat this problem willcease and the amount of pollution reaching theAllegheny and Monongahela rivers willincrease, threatening 42 public drinking waterintakes, thousands of private wells, and fishand wildlife.

The RiversThe Allegheny and Monongahela rivers drainmost of western Pennsylvania, and they mergein downtown Pittsburgh to form the OhioRiver. Originating near the New York-Pennsyl-vania state border, the Allegheny runs north tosouth. After an 86-mile reach protected as afederal Wild and Scenic River, the Alleghenypasses through a series of nine Army Corps ofEngineers locks and dams before meeting theMonongahela. The Monongahela runs south tonorth, starting in West Virginia’s mountains,and flowing through farmland and small townsbefore entering Pittsburgh.

These rivers were workhorses of earlyAmerican industrialization. Coal-laden bargesserving steel mills regularly traveled on bothof them. With the decline of the domestic steelindustry, many mills closed. Pittsburgh, how-

ever, remains amajor inland port,handling 53 mil-lion tons of cargoeach year. In addi-tion, the water-ways are nowemerging asincreasinglyimportant recre-ational resources,attracting morethan six milliontourists annually.

THE ALLEGHENY AND MONON-

GAHELA RIVERS COME TOGETH-

ER IN PITTSBURGH AFTER

DRAINING THE COAL COUNTRY

OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

AND WEST VIRGINIA.

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A l l e g h e n y a n d M o n o n g a h e l a r i v e r s ◆ 2 3

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR

TO TAKE ACTION: WWW.AMERICANRIVERS.ORG/ALLEGHENYMONONGAHELA

2004.HTML

DEB SIMKO, Western Pennsylvania Coalitionfor Abandoned Mine Reclamation, (724) 837-5271, debsimko@yahoo.com

DAVITT WOODWELL, Pennsylvania Environ-mental Council, (412) 481-9400,dwoodwell@pecwest.orgKEITH PITZER, Friends of the Cheat River,(304) 329-3621, kpitzer@cheat.org

ment operations at bankrupt and abandonedmining operations hinges on congressionallyappropriated funding.

The 12-Month OutlookPennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell pro-posed a major bond initiative for environmen-tal restoration in January 2004. If approved, thestate would borrow $800 million for aban-doned mine cleanup, open space protection,clean energy, and other uses.

The Pennsylvania legislature should vote toput the bond on the ballot for voters to ratifyin November 2004.

The federal Abandoned Mine Land TrustFund pays for cleanup

efforts at many aban-doned mine sites.

This program col-lects monies fromoperating coalmines to fundreclamation andtreatment projects

at closed mines.The fund currently

has a balance — but itwill expire on Sept. 30,

2004. If allowed to lapse, the loss of fundingwould hobble efforts by states such as Pennsyl-vania and West Virginia to reclaim abandonedcoal mines and protect water in the Allegheny-Monongahela watershed, and rivers like theAllegheny and Monongahela would be devas-tated by mine drainage indefinitely.

Congress should reauthorize the coal indus-try’s contribution to the fund before this hap-pens, and make certain that monies in thefund are directed toward water quality prob-lems caused by AMD.

Even if the Abandoned Mine Land TrustFund is reauthorized, it may not generateenough funds to thoroughly address AMDdamage. Thousands of mine cleanups arerequired, each lasting up to 50 years. Congressshould do more than reauthorize the existingprogram — it should increase the amount offunding available for cleanups and reform theprocess for allocating money to ensure thatmore cleanups are completed more quickly.

Contacts SARA NICHOLAS, American Rivers, (717) 232-8355, snicholas@americanrivers.org

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COUNTLESS HEADWATER

STREAMS IN THE WATERSHED

ARE DISCOLORED BY ACID

AND TOXIC HEAVY METALS

LEAKING OUT OF ABANDONED

MINES (LEFT).

ery, whitewater recreation and dramatic, natural scenery.

The Risk Spokane Falls, the city’s signature natural fea-ture, sputters and runs dry most summers, aconsequence of over-pumping the Spokane-Rathdrum Aquifer, the operations of AvistaCorporation’s Post Falls Dam, and divertingthe river above the falls to Avista’s Spokanepower plant.

Every gallon pumped out of the Spokane-Rathdrum Aquifer is one less gallon thatreaches the river. Water users are authorized topump more than 620 million gallons per dayfrom the aquifer, a figure that exceeds theriver’s recent daily flow during summer.

State agencies in Idaho and Washington thatmanage the aquifer have carelessly deededwater to cities, farmers and industry withoutadequately assessing ecological impacts on theriver. This generosity has fueled wastefulhabits — per capita water use in the region isamong the highest in the nation.

Shrinking river flows exacerbate anotherserious problem: five sewage treatment plantsdischarge into the river. Low flows concentratethe wastewater discharges, making it difficultfor utilities to avoid violating water qualitystandards. Rather than upgrade their facilities,these utilities are seeking exemptions fromregulations.

The final insult to the Spokane River istoxic pollution flowing from the area aroundLake Coeur d’Alene. Former mining and leadsmelting operations there have contaminatedthe river with heavy metals, including lead,arsenic, zinc, and cadmium that cause healthproblems, including brain and nerve damage inchildren. High pollution levels have promptedfish consumption warnings in Washington. In1999, the Spokane River carried mine wasteincluding 400 tons of lead and other metalsand arsenic to the Columbia River.

In 2002, the Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) issued a Superfund cleanup planfor the Spokane River-Lake Coeur d’Alenebasin. The contaminated lake, the river’ssource, is not in the plan. The Bush adminis-tration transferred effective control of the

2 4 ◆ A m e r i c a ’ s M o s t E n d a n g e r e d R i v e r s o f 2 0 0 4

I D A H O , WA S H I N G T O N

THREAT: WATER WITHDRAWALS AND POLLUTION

#6 S p o k a n e R i v e r

THE SPOKANE RIVER: TOO

LITTLE WATER, TOO MUCH

POLLUTION, AND AN UNCER-

TAIN FUTURE

SummaryMore pollution concentrated in less water will be the future of the Spokane River unlessnew groundwater withdrawal applications arerejected, sewage plants meet stringent waterquality standards, and mine waste is cleanedup.

The RiverThe Spokane River flows from Lake Coeurd’Alene in northern Idaho approximately 90miles northwest through Spokane, Wash.,before emptying into the Columbia Riverabove Grand Coulee Dam. Much of the river’sflows, particularly during summer, come fromunderground springs fed by the Spokane-Rath-drum Aquifer. The importance of this aquiferto the river and the region is hard to overstate.It also provides drinking water to 400,000 people in the Spokane area, and is liberallypumped by irrigators in Idaho, and industrialand municipal users in Washington.

For 10,000 years, native peoples gathered at

a magnificent set of falls and rapids to catchsalmon and trade with their neighbors. In the1870s, the river’s abundant water and energypotential attracted new settlers to this spot.Today, the Spokane River is a vital part of thequality of life in its namesake city, offeringriverfront trails and parks, a prized trout fish-

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S p o k a n e R i v e r ◆ 2 5

FIVE SEWAGE TREATMENT

PLANTS ALONG THE SPOKANE

RIVER ARE SEEKING EXEMP-

TIONS FROM CLEAN WATER

STANDARDS.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR

TO TAKE ACTION:WWW.AMERICANRIVERS.ORG/SPOKANE2004.HTML

cleanup to Idaho, which opposes the designa-tion and the cleanup because of costs, opposi-tion by mining interests, and because localbusiness leaders fear negative publicity for thearea’s real estate and tourism industry centeredon Lake Coeur d’Alene. Continued funding isin doubt due to shortfalls in the federal Super-fund program that is supposed to help pay forthe project.

The 12-Month Outlook Idaho and Washington are determining futurepumping levels for the Spokane-RathdrumAquifer, and will release final plans in 2004.Simultaneously, the states are working withthe U.S. Geological Survey to study the aquiferand river. The states should enact a moratori-um on new aquifer pumping until the study isconcluded, and include stringent conservationprovisions in forthcoming aquifer managementplans.

The Washington Department of Ecology willissue a river cleanup plan in 2004, establishing

standards toaddress low oxy-gen levels in theriver. At thesame time, theBush administra-tion has signaledthat it maygreatly reducethe federal rolein this importantClean Water Act

program. Washington state and the federal gov-ernment should continue to work together toreduce polluted runoff in the Spokane River.

Spokane River sewage dischargers are seek-ing exemptions from water quality standardsthat protect spawning conditions for trout.Their tool to accomplish this is a Clean WaterAct provision called “use attainability analy-sis.” If accepted, the exemptions will allowsewage to be dumped more liberally, and troutsurvival is less likely. Public hearings about theexemption requests will be held in late 2004and in 2005. The Washington Department ofEcology and the federal EPA must reject theserequests from sewage dischargers.

In the 2004 session of Congress, lawmakersshould reinstate the Superfund Tax on oil andchemicals that provides funds to clean up toxicsites like the Spokane River. This “polluter

pays” funding source expired in 1995, leading tothe current funding crisis for the program.Despite opposition from President Bush, Con-gress should reauthorize the tax to ensure thatcleanup of the Spokane River and other sitesnationwide goes forward — and polluters ratherthan taxpayers pay for cleanup.

ContactsROSS FREEMAN, American Rivers, (206) 213-0330 ext. 16, rfreeman@americanrivers.orgJOHN OSBORN, Sierra Club, (509) 939-1290,john@waterplanet.wsJUSTIN HAYES, Idaho Conservation League,(208) 345-6933, jhayes@wildidaho.org

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2 6 ◆ A m e r i c a ’ s M o s t E n d a n g e r e d R i v e r s o f 2 0 0 4

M A S S A C H U S E T T S , C O N N E C T I C U T

THREAT: MASSIVE PCB POLLUTION

#7 H o u s a t o n i c R i v e r

ALTHOUGH THE HOUSATONIC

RIVER REMAINS A POPULAR

RECREATIONAL DESTINATION,

PEOPLE CONSUMING FISH

AND WATERFOWL FROM THE

RIVER CAN BE UP TO 1,000

TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE

STRICKEN WITH CANCER AND

OTHER MALADIES.

SummaryIrresponsible industrial activity has left thefloodplain and river bottom of the HousatonicRiver contaminated with some of the highestlevels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) inthe nation. People who consume contaminat-ed fish and wildlife from along the river are atelevated risk for cancer, birth defects, andimmune problems. Unless the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) orders a cleanup ofthe remaining contamination, General ElectricCompany's (GE) toxic legacy in the Housaton-ic will remain a major health hazard for gener-ations to come.

The RiverThe Housatonic River flows 149 miles fromits source in western Massachusetts throughwestern Connecticut before emptying into alarge tidal estuary and Long Island Sound.Along its route the river passes through Octo-ber Mountain State Forest, Massachusetts'slargest state park. The Housatonic supports 45species of fish and amphibians as well asnumerous rare and endangered species includ-ing bald eagles.

For 200 years, the Housatonic has providedwater and hydropower for paper, manufactur-ing, iron ore and marble industries, as well asfor agriculture. Despite warnings against con-suming fish caught in the river, the Housaton-ic is a popular destination for trout fishing,boating, camping and swimming.

The RiskBetween 1932 and 1977, GE used PCBs at itselectric transformer manufacturing plant inPittsfield, Massachusetts. During that time,GE either deliberately or accidentally dis-charged or dumped many tons of PCBs intothe river, nearby lakes, groundwater, and ontosoils and landfills. The GE facility is the onlyknown source of these chemicals entering theHousatonic in the state.

PCBs cause awide range ofhuman healthproblems,often at lowlevels ofexposure.EPA classifiesPCBs as a proba-ble human carcino-gen. Other studies linkPCBs to developmental and neurological disor-ders and endocrine disruptions.

Estimates on the amount of PCBs contami-nating the river and surrounding area vary. GEhas acknowledged discarding almost 20 tonsof PCBs into the river. The Housatonic RiverInitiative, citing information provided by aformer GE employee, pegs the number at closeto 750 tons. The most severe concentrationsof the chemical — among the highest in thenation — are found in the sediment at the bot-tom of the river between the Pittsfield facilityand Woods Pond Dam about 10 miles down-stream. Although this dam has prevented largequantities of PCBs from moving further down-stream, the river contains dangerous levels ofPCBs below the dam all the way to its mouth.

PCBs do not dissolve in water; they sink tothe bottom and enter the food chain throughplants and bottom-feeding species. Duckstaken from the most polluted section of theHousatonic contain PCB levels rarely seenanywhere else in the world. Average PCB con-centrations in these waterfowl are more than200 times EPA's tolerance level for humanconsumption, and their carcasses must behandled as hazardous waste. One duck regis-tered a PCB count of 3,700 parts per million,more than 1,000 times the EPA limit.

EPA also concluded that certain popula-

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H o u s a t o n i c R i v e r ◆ 2 7

DUCKS TAKEN FROM THE

MOST POLLUTED SECTION OF

THE HOUSATONIC CONTAIN

PCB LEVELS REACHING

MORE THAN 200 TIMES

EPA'S BENCHMARK FOR

HUMAN CONSUMPTION. THEIR

CARCASSES MUST BE HAN-

DLED AS HAZARDOUS WASTE.

tions of invertebrates, amphibians, fish-eatingmammals and birds are all at high risk in cer-tain areas of the river, especially above thedam. Fish in the river have some of the high-est PCB levels in the nation, and EPA labora-tory studies indicate that as many as 50percent of them have developed abnormalities.

In 1977, the Connecticut Department ofPublic Health issued advisories for the con-sumption of fish from the Housatonic. A simi-lar warning followed in Massachusetts fiveyears later, and in 1999 that state added anadvisory about consuming Housatonic water-fowl.

The EPA found that people consumingHousatonic River fish and waterfowl, especial-ly above the dam, are up to 1,000 times morelikely to be stricken with cancer and othermaladies, such as reproductive problems. In1997, the federal government sued GE, andthe settlement led to cleanup of the half-milestretch of the Housatonic immediately along-side the Pittsfield factory. This was completedin 2002. GE is also required to help pay forcleanup on the next 1.5 miles of river belowthe factory site.

The 12-Month Outlook In the coming months, EPA will take majorsteps towards determining how much, if any,of the remaining PCB contamination in therest of the Housatonic River to clean up.

Before making this decision, EPA will com-plete three scientific analyses: The first reportdiscusses the effects of the river's PCBs onhuman health, the second looks at PCBimpacts to fish and wildlife, and the thirdexamines whether river flow and weathercould cause the contamination to “migrate”to new areas. EPA should finalize thesereports by the end of 2004.

Once these reports are completed, GE willpresent the agency with six alternatives foraddressing the remaining contamination —ranging from doing nothing to dredging theentire river. EPA should insist on a cleanup ofthe rest of the river sufficient to enable resi-dents to once again hunt and fish without fearof adverse impacts to their health.

Congress should pass the Clean WaterAuthority Restoration Act in the 2004 sessionto end lingering debate over what waters areand aren't protected by federal law. Thiswould ensure that all tributaries and wetlandsalong the Housatonic will continue to be pro-

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR

TO TAKE ACTION: WWW.AMERICANRIVERS.ORG/HOUSATONIC2004.HTML

tected as they have been since the CleanWater Act became law in 1972.

ContactsJOHN SENN, American Rivers, (202) 347-7550 ext. 3056, jsenn@americanrivers.orgTIM GRAY, Housatonic River Initiative, (413) 243-3353, timgray@berkshire.netAUDREY COLE, Housatonic EnvironmentalAction League, (860) 672-6867,healct@snet.net

2 8 ◆ A m e r i c a ’ s M o s t E n d a n g e r e d R i v e r s o f 2 0 0 4

#8 P e a c e R i v e rTHREAT: PHOSPHATE MINING

F L O R I D A

HUGE PHOSPHATE MINES ARE

DEVOURING THE PEACE

RIVER WATERSHED, LEAVING

BEHIND UNSTABLE CLAY

POOLS THAT PREVENT WATER

FROM REACHING THE RIVER

— UNTIL THEY COLLAPSE.

SummaryPhosphate mining in the Peace River water-shed has been the source of serious environ-mental problems for many years, and largenew mines are planned. Florida’s Departmentof Environmental Protection (DEP) and theSouthwest Florida Water Management Dis-trict (SWFWMD) must take measures to safe-guard the river and communities in thewatershed from mining impacts, includingprotecting drinking water, and importanttourism and commercial fishing industries.

The RiverThe Peace River begins in central Florida atGreen Swamp and flows south 105 miles tothe Charlotte Harbor Estuary. Fresh waterfrom the Peace River is vital to maintain thedelicate salinity balance in the estuary thathosts several endangered species as well ascommercial and recreational harvests ofshrimp, crabs and fish.

The river has always been a vital resourceto the people in its watershed. Historically,the abundant fishery and wildlife supportedNative American populations. Today, thePeace is an important source of drinkingwater, supplying some 6 million gallons of

drinking water every day. The river is also animportant source of economic vitality, provid-ing tourism, recreation, and commercial fish-ing. During 1995-1996, these industriesgenerated almost $4.5 billion and createdmore than 91,000 jobs in the watershed.

The RiskPhosphate is a growing export to China, whereit is used in fertilizer, but the consequences ofmining it are borne in the Peace River water-shed. Phosphate mining companies bore andscrape huge pits up to 60 feet deep over thou-sands of contiguous acres. More than 180,000acres have been mined in the Peace Riverwatershed already, and mining corporationsare now seeking permits for another 100,000acres – an expansion of more than 50 percent.

One byproduct of the extraction process isclay, which is stored in settling ponds thateventually comprise more than 40 percent of amine site. Some of these ponds can measurethousands of acres. Rain is trapped in thesemassive clay-laden ponds rather than soakinginto the soil to replenish underlying aquifers.This reduces flows in the Peace River. Sincethe 1960s, the average annual flow of the mid-dle Peace River has declined from 1,350 cubicfeet per second (cfs) to 800 cfs. Most of thisflow reduction is due to phosphate mining.

Each holding pond is a potential time bombthat threatens water quality, public health,wildlife and the regional economy. Damsrestraining the ponds have burst or over-flowed, sending a slurry of clay, containinguranium and radium, into the river, and coat-ing the riverbed for many miles with a toxicclay slime that suffocates flora and fauna. Onesuch incident killed 3 million fish. In 1971,two million gallons of phosphate waste sweptinto the river, causing a five-foot tide of slimethat spread into adjacent pastures and wet-lands. On some occasions, clay slime spillshave prevented the Peace River ManasotaWater Supply Authority from using river flowsfor drinking water, forcing counties to seekwater supplies elsewhere or rely on storedsupplies.

On at least 24 occasions, heavy rains havecreated sinkholes beneath the settling ponds.

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P e a c e R i v e r ◆ 2 9

PHOSPHATE MINING

THREATENS RECREATIONAL

AND COMMERCIAL FISHING

IN THE PEACE RIVER AND

CHARLOTTE HARBOR

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO TAKE ACTION:WWW.AMERICANRIVERS.ORG/PEACE2004.HTML

This caused the floor of the ponds to collapse,allowing mine waste to be released intounderground aquifers.

The 12-Month OutlookOn May 10, 2004, a judge will examine theFlorida DEP’s decision to allow IMC-Cargill toexpand the Ona Mine by 4,000 acres. Thecompany has signaled that it may expand thesite by an additional 16,000 acres beyond thatat some point in the future. Charlotte County,the Peace River Manasota Water SupplyAuthority and conservation groups are chal-lenging the DEP’s permit for the mine. Itappears DEP is poised to allow mine construc-tion, despite the fact that an EnvironmentalImpact Statement has not been completed forthis project. DEP should reject the Ona Mine.

Charlotte County and conservation groupsare challenging or monitoring at least fiveother phosphate mine proposals. These pro-posed mines and mine expansions total over40,000 acres. DEP should deny permits foreach of them.

After a three-year delay, SWFWMD isscheduled to set new minimum flow levels forthe middle and lower Peace River in 2004.The large number of pending mine permitsand their consequences for flows make itimperative that SWFWMD set minimum flowlevels without further delay. The districtshould set minimum flows in the Peace Riverthat will preserve and protect drinking waterand fish and wildlife habitat. If SWFWMDattempts additional stalling, the state legisla-ture should mandate that the decision bemade in 2004.

Most of the Peace River was listed underthe Clean Water Act as an impaired river in1998, and the DEP has agreed to develop acleanup plan for the river. DEP should resistpressure from phosphate mining companiesand establish clean water managementrequirements that will lead to improved waterquality in the river.

The Bush administration has halted a Clin-ton-era initiative to strengthen the Total Max-imum Daily Load program in the Clean WaterAct and has signaled that it will proposeweaker regulations. The administrationshould not dilute this program, which is theClean Water Act’s primary tool for cleaningup waters like the Peace that are impaired bydevelopment, mining, and other land uses thatgenerate pollution.

ContactsSERENA S. MCCLAIN, American Rivers, (202) 347-7550 ext. 3004, smcclain@americanrivers.orgHONEY RAND, Charlotte County Commis-sion, (813) 948-6400, honey@eprgroup.comBECKY AYECH, Environmental Federation ofSouthwest Florida, (941) 322-2164DENNIS MADER, HARDCAP, (863) 494-4687,rasayana@cyberstreet.com GLENN COMPTON, ManaSota-88, (941) 966-6256, info@manasota-88.org

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3 0 ◆ A m e r i c a ’ s M o s t E n d a n g e r e d R i v e r s o f 2 0 0 4

O H I O

THREAT: RAPID, POORLY REGULATED SPRAWL

#9 B i g D a r b y C r e e k

encroaching into sensitive areas as a leadingconcern. Once parking lots, roads, rooftops,and turf grass occupy a sufficient percentageof any given watershed, increased stormwaterrunoff ruins the natural dynamics of localstreams. Rain and snow that once soaked intothe ground race into storm drains instead —causing more floods and more pollution.

Columbus residents now drawn to the BigDarby for its scenery and tranquility couldfind their experience diminished by more pol-lution, trash on shorelines, unnaturally risingor falling flows, and traffic noise drowning outsinging birds and rippling waters. The BigDarby’s collection of rare and endangeredmussels and fish are particularly vulnerable tothe disruptions in natural flows that resultfrom the dramatic changes in runoff associat-ed with poorly planned sprawl.

The Bush administration has relaxed feder-

THE BIG DARBY IS ONE OF

THE HIGHEST QUALITY

STREAMS LEFT IN THE MID-

WEST — FOR NOW.

SummaryDespite its close proximity to Columbus,Ohio, Big Darby Creek has managed to escapemany impacts of urban sprawl. That may beabout to change. Unless state and local gov-ernments adopt and enforce river-consciousland use planning in the Big Darby watershed,one of the highest quality streams left in theMidwest may become just another polluted,flood-prone urban ditch.

The RiverThe Big Darby Creek mainstem is approxi-mately 88 miles long, draining 555 squaremiles of predominantly agricultural land incentral Ohio before joining the Scioto River.The Big Darby system has been recognized as one of the outstanding rivers left in theMidwest. It has been designated as a state and national “Scenic River,” and as one ofThe Nature Conservancy’s original “LastGreat Places.”

Although most lands along the Big Darbyare in private hands, several parks providepublic access. The river is a popular destina-tion for paddlers, anglers, scout troops andschool outings from the greater Columbusarea. More than 100 fish and 43 freshwatermussels species, including 37 rare and endan-gered aquatic species on Ohio’s watch lists,have been identified in the Big Darby water-shed. Three species protected under the feder-al Endangered Species Act call the Big Darbyhome.

The RiskUntil recent years, agriculture buffered the BigDarby from sprawl, but skyrocketing propertyvalues threaten to transform the landscape.Although some farming practices present risksto the Big Darby, a more pressing concern isthat population in the seven-county Colum-bus area is expected to explode by nearly 30percent — some 600,000 people — by 2030.As a result, Columbus and other communitiesare rezoning agricultural land and entertainingproposals for massive residential developmentin the Darby watershed.

River conservationists across the countryhave identified poorly planned sprawl

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B i g D a r b y C r e e k ◆ 3 1

most crucial areas along the river, as well assteps to ensure that the construction whichdoes occur uses “low impact development”techniques to minimize stormwater runoff tothe Big Darby. Ohio EPA and the towns andcounties in the watershed should act to makesuch a vision a reality.

In the 2004 session of Congress, lawmakersshould put to rest lingering questions aboutwhat waters and wetlands are protected byfederal law. Congress should pass the CleanWater Authority Restoration Act to ensurethat remaining wetlands in the Big Darbywatershed are protected.

ContactsJACK HANNON, American Rivers, (202) 347-7550 ext. 3025, jhannon@americanrivers.orgJOHN TETZLOFF, Darby Creek Association,(614) 288-0313, jftetzloff@aol.comANTHONY SASSON, The Nature Conservancy,(614) 717-2770 ext. 23, asasson@tnc.org

al safeguards that once helped protect riverslike the Big Darby from unregulated sprawl. InJanuary 2002, the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-neers issued a new set of “Nationwide Per-mits” that will make it easier and cheaper fordevelopers to build residential subdivisions,shopping malls and institutional structures infloodplains and on top of wetlands andstreams. Starting last year, field staff from theArmy Corps and federal Environmental Pro-tection Agency were discouraged from invok-ing Clean Water Act protections for certainclasses of wetlands that absorb stormwaterand filter pollutants that might otherwiseflow into rivers like the Big Darby. Becausemost wetlands in the watershed have alreadybeen destroyed, those that do remain are espe-cially necessary for flood control and watercleansing purposes.

These federal actions put more of the bur-den of protecting the Big Darby on the shoul-ders of state agencies and local governments— and real estate developers have a lot ofclout in Ohio. According to the Center forResponsive Politics, the real estate industry isthe state’s third-most generous political con-tributor. Developers and growth boosters arepressuring the state to allow development insensitive areas before thoughtful, protectiveplanning can take place.

Should they prevail, the health and waterquality of the Big Darby will decline, itswildlife will suffer, and area residents will losethe opportunity to enjoy a remarkable river,included in the National Wild and ScenicRivers System, only 20 minutes from down-town Columbus.

The 12-month outlookRecognizing the threats to the Big Darby, theOhio Environmental Protection Agency (OhioEPA) imposed a temporary development mora-torium in June 2003 in a portion of the BigDarby watershed. The agency created a stake-holder group comprised of conservationgroups, political leaders, government agencies,developers, and private utilities to recommendstream quality protection measures for the BigDarby. The stakeholder group will presenttheir recommendations by the end of 2004,starting a formal period of public notice andcomment.

These recommendations have the potentialto include zoning, development limits andother land use guidelines that will protect the

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR

TO TAKE ACTION: WWW.AMERICANRIVERS.ORG/BIGDARBY2004.HTML

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MORE THAN 100 FISH AND

43 FRESHWATER MUSSEL

SPECIES, INCLUDING 37

RARE AND ENDANGERED

AQUATIC SPECIES ON OHIO'S

WATCH LISTS HAVE BEEN

IDENTIFIED IN THE BIG

DARBY WATERSHED. ABOVE

IS THE FEDERALLY-ENDAN-

GERED CLUBSHELL MUSSEL.

3 2 ◆ A m e r i c a ’ s M o s t E n d a n g e r e d R i v e r s o f 2 0 0 4

M I N N E S O T A , W I S C O N S I N , I L L I N O I S , I O WA , M I S S O U R I , K E N T U C K Y, T E N N E S S E E ,A R K A N S A S , M I S S I S S I P P I , L O U I S I A N A

THREAT: NAVIGATION INFRASTRUCTURE, LEVEES, AND POLLUTION

#10 M i s s i s s i p p i R i v e r

THE ARMY CORPS WANTS TO

EXPAND ITS LOCKS

UPSTREAM OF ST. LOUIS,

WASTING BILLIONS OF TAX

DOLLARS AND FURTHER

JEOPARDIZING THE HEALTH

OF THE RIVER.

SummaryAfter decades of manipulation by the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers, the MississippiRiver is beset with problems. Unless Congressgives the agency marching orders that reflectthe needs, desires and opportunities of today’scommunities, the river faces ecological col-lapse with vast negative economic impacts totourism and recreation industries worth $21billion per year.

The RiverOn its journey from Minnesota to the Gulf ofMexico, the Mississippi River drains 41 per-cent of the continental United States, and car-ries more water than any other Americanriver. The river also provides drinking waterfor millions of people.

The Mississippi is a cultural and recre-ational treasure for the nation. Tourism, fish-ing and recreation generate about $21.4 billioneach year, and contribute 351,000 jobs alongthe river. The river also supports a $12.6 bil-lion shipping industry, with 35,300 relatedjobs. Half the nation’s corn and soybeans arebarged on the Upper Mississippi.

The river and its floodplain support morethan 400 different species of wildlife, andsome 40 percent of North America’s water-fowl migrate along the river’s flyway.

The RiskWith its focus on managing the Mississippi fornavigation and flood control, the Army Corpshas profoundly altered almost everythingabout the river — its course, depth, flow,floodplain, and wildlife. Among the casualties:more than half the river’s floodplain has beencut off by levees, millions of acres of wetlandsand countless side channels and sandbars havebeen destroyed or damaged, the number ofmarsh plants at the base of the river’s foodchain have been reduced, sedimentation anderosion have increased, and fish and musselhabitat has been destroyed.

Riverside communities that look totourism and recreation as key industries sufferas the river deteriorates.

Every year, more than 20 square miles ofcoastal wetlands near the river’s mouth arelost because sediment that once nourished theMississippi’s delta is funneled through a tightcorridor of Army Corps flood control leveesinto the Gulf of Mexico. Pollution from farmsand sewage plants is also swept down the riverwhere it contributes to an 8,000-square-mile“dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico — an areathat can’t support marine life.

The Army Corps continues to underminerecovery efforts by pursuing more of the sametypes of projects that have caused wildlifeextinctions and brought the river to the brinkof ecological collapse. Even though less expen-sive and less environmentally damaging alter-natives are available, the agency proposes tospend more than $2 billion to replace orextend many of its 29 locks above St. Louis.Two separate findings by the National Acade-my of Sciences show that the agency’s bargetraffic forecasts for the river are grossly over-stated and its economic models supporting thelock project are flawed.

Although billions of dollars have alreadybeen spent constructing flood control mea-sures along the river, flood damages are on therise — damages in 1993 alone exceeded $12billion. Now the Army Corps wants to spendand build more. One example, the proposed$85 million St. Johns Bayou/New Madridlevee and pump project in southeastern Mis-souri, would wall off more than 75,000 acres

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of floodplain along the river. The enormousearthen levees and dikes that line much of theriver increase flood damages by inviting resi-dences, businesses, and farms to locate inflood prone areas, and sever the vital connec-tion to the river needed to sustain backwaters,forests, wetlands and the river’s wildlife.

The 12-Month OutlookThis spring, the Senate will take up the WaterResources Development Act of 2004. In thisbill, Congress will direct the Army Corps toeither perpetuate or begin to fix problemsafflicting the Mississippi River.

The Army Corps will likely try to have itboth ways, presenting lawmakers with amulti-billion dollar, 30-year wish list for lockand dam renovations wrapped in a grand —but vague — commitment to restore the eco-logical functions of the Upper MississippiRiver. The agency’s economic justificationsfor longer locks have been thoroughly discred-ited. Congress should decline this wastefulexpenditure, and authorize simpler, less-costlymeasures such as traffic scheduling and helperboats to relieve periodic lock congestion.

Congress should also direct the ArmyCorps to conduct a study to determine how tooperate the existing lock and dam system toimprove the ecological health of the river, andto develop a clear and binding plan to do so.

Congress should immediately fund theLower Mississippi River Resources Assess-ment that will help to identify and prioritizerestoration opportunities for the lower river.Congress should direct the Army Corps toimmediately acquire and restore floodplainland, accelerate dam reforms to provide lowersummer flows, and fund side channel restora-tion along the lower river. Congress alsoshould urge the Army Corps to quickly com-plete a comprehensive delta restoration plan

EARLY AND ADVANCED ERO-

SION: LEVEES AT THE RIVER’S

MOUTH HELP CAUSE MORE

THAN 20 SQUARE MILES OF

COASTAL WETLANDS TO DISAP-

PEAR EACH YEAR.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR

TO TAKE ACTION:WWW.AMERICANRIVERS.ORG/MISSISSIPPI2004.HTML

for coastal Louisiana, and that plan should besubmitted to Congress.

Finally, Congress should enact long overduereforms in Army Corps’ project planning pro-cedures. Among other key reforms, indepen-dent peer review of the economic andecological assessments of large or controversialArmy Corps projects should be required.

ContactsKELLY MILLER, American Rivers, (202) 347-7550 ext. 3008, kmiller@americanrivers.org SCOTT FABER, Environmental Defense, (202)387-3500 ext. 3315, sfaber@environmentalde-fense.org MARK BEORKREM, Illinois StewardshipAlliance, (217) 498-9707,mbeorkrem@hotmail.comMARK MULLER, Institutefor Agriculture and TradePolicy, (612) 870-3420,mmuller@iatp.orgANGELA ANDERSON, Mis-sissippi River BasinAlliance, (314) 776-6672ext.102, angelaander-son@mrba.orgDAN MCGUINESS,National Audubon Soci-ety, (651) 739-9332,dmcguiness@audubon.org

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