Latest news with #AmericanRivers
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
First-ever National Mississippi River Day frames the river as 'the great connector'
Michael Anderson views the Mississippi River as the country's great connector. It flows through 10 states — both red and blue — weaving its way through major population centers and small towns. Millions of Americans drink from it, and live, work and play on its banks. For that reason, Anderson believes it's high time the river had its day. This year, it will. For the first time, June 2 will be recognized as National Mississippi River Day, a move that Anderson and other advocates hope will bring sorely needed attention to one of the country's most significant waterways as it continues to struggle with pollution, disinvestment and the effects of climate change. The environmental advocacy group One Mississippi, for which Anderson directs outreach and education efforts, launched the day to kick off its annual campaign for the river, River Days of Action. More: 10 important facts about the Mississippi River More: The Mississippi River is central to America's story. Why doesn't it get more love? "In a time where it's almost more immediate to turn our backs on each other, now is the time to turn toward the river and turn toward each other," Anderson said. "This is about having a dedicated day for the people of the river, in these mainstem states and beyond, to turn toward each other. Several river cities and three states, including Wisconsin, have formally recognized the day. Gov. Tony Evers wrote in a proclamation that the river connects Wisconsin to the global economy and that protecting it is paramount as environmental threats continue to grow. In April, the national conservation group American Rivers named the Mississippi the most endangered river in the U.S. because of the Trump administration's plans to scale back spending on natural disasters, including flooding. There's significant room for improvement in federal flood relief programs, advocates said, but they argued federal participation is key to coordinating flooding response because the Mississippi touches so many states. The upper Mississippi River in particular is experiencing higher water flows and more severe, longer-lasting flooding due to climate change and land use changes. These high waters are killing floodplain forests and disrupting fish habitats. On the lower river, drought years have caused barges to run aground. And pollutants from Midwest farm fields and urban centers continues to choke aquatic life at the river's mouth off the coast of Louisiana. More: Mississippi River named most endangered in U.S. Why water quality is not the issue. More: Mississippi River runoff is not just a Gulf problem. It impacts health, recreation upstream. Layoffs and cuts to federal agencies that manage the river are also causing concern among environmental advocates. That's in part what propelled Steve Marking, a river historian and guest performer for American Cruise Lines on its Mississippi River cruises, to organize a June 14 event at Goose Island County Park near La Crosse as a part of One Mississippi's River Days of Action. More: Multiple researchers fired from La Crosse USGS science center, threatening work on invasive species and other Mississippi River issues "Celebrate the Mississippi," hosted by the Upper Mississippi River chapter of the Izaak Walton League, of which Marking is a founding member, will include a paddling trip through the river's backwaters, an outdoor photo contest, a floodplain forest tour and a demonstration of the league's Save Our Streams program, which teaches people how to do their own water quality monitoring. The demonstration is meant to help people realize their own power in taking care of natural resources, Marking said. "Being able to take charge of the data and find out whether your local stream, your local creek or even the mainstem of the Mississippi is healthy or not ... is something we can do," he said. On June 2, One Mississippi will host an online celebration at noon to hear residents' stories from along the river and discuss what's needed to protect it. Anderson said he thinks momentum for National Mississippi River Day will continue to build in years to come, similar to Earth Day. "There's just a really encouraging message of hope — of where we are ... and also of where we can go," he said. Madeline Heim covers health and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at 920-996-7266 or mheim@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: First-ever National Mississippi River Day happening June 2
Fast Company
14-05-2025
- General
- Fast Company
These stunning photos show how nature came back after the world's largest dam removal project
It's been less than a year since the world's largest dam removal project was completed along 420 miles of the Klamath River, near the border of Oregon and California. But if you look at the river now, you might not know that four dams had ever been in place. Instead of concrete walls and artificial reservoirs, the river is now free-flowing—and parts of the former infrastructure have been replaced by wildflowers that are in bloom. 'It's been an incredible transition,' says Ann Willis, California regional director at American Rivers, a nonprofit that supported Native American tribes in a decades-long fight to take out the dams. 'It's really strange and wonderful to stand on the bridge that goes across the Klamath River and look upstream where Iron Gate Dam used to be. I used to imagine a river above it, and now I see the river.' The dams were built between 1918 and 1962 to provide hydropower, and immediately blocked salmon from migrating. Over time, the ecosystem started to collapse. By 1997, coho salmon in the river were listed as endangered. (The river was once the third-largest salmon fishery in the continental U.S.) In 2002, when the federal government diverted water to farms instead of letting it flow downstream in the river, tens of thousands of salmon died. Local tribes like the Yurok—who have lived by the river for at least 10,000 years, and who consider salmon a central and sacred part of their culture—started the long fight to take out the dams. Beyond the direct impact on fish, the dams impacted the larger environment as the flow of nutrients down the river stopped. Willis compares dams to a blockage in human arteries that eventually lead to a heart attack. 'When you put a dam in a river, there's an entire living network of things that depends on the flow of the river—the patterns and relationship of the river and its flow with the land around it,' she says. 'When you block it, you start this long process of decline. That's the bad news. The good news is one of the fastest ways to resuscitate a river and its surrounding ecosystem is to simply remove the dam.' The advocacy was a challenge. But the tribes and environmental groups behind the campaign were helped by the fact that it was ultimately more expensive for the power company to keep the aging dams in place than to get rid of them. The power that the dams provided was also relatively easy to replace, since it made up only 2% of the utility's power generation. (The utility's overall plan to meet power needs includes more investment in renewable energy, more energy efficiency, and a small amount of natural gas.) In 2016, after years of negotiation, the power company transferred the dams to a nonprofit in charge of their removal. In 2022, the federal government greenlit the plan, which had a cost of around $450 million, funded both by California state bond money and by utility customers. The dams were taken out in phases, with the smallest removed in 2023 and the rest last year, all carefully timed to avoid disrupting fish that might try to swim through the area. First, the reservoirs were drained. Then demolition crews blew up larger concrete structures. Dump trucks cleared away rocks, dirt, and sand, returning some of the material to the hillsides it was carved out of decades ago. Plans for restoring plant life started earlier. A crew of primarily Yurok tribe members began collecting seeds from native flowers and trees in 2019. Most of the seeds went to nurseries, where they were grown in fields to produce more flowers and even more seeds. 'There were over 2,000 acres that needed revegetation,' says Joshua Chenoweth, an ecologist who worked with the Yurok tribe on the project. 'Because it's so large, you can't collect enough seed to just throw it back on the landscape.' The crew eventually spread billions of seeds using a variety of methods, from hand-planting to using a helicopter in areas where it was too dangerous to walk. Right now, the hills are covered in California poppies and a mix of other plants. 'The hand-seeding exceeded my wildest expectations,' Chenoweth says. The fish also came back faster than scientists expected. 'The dam removal was officially complete on September 30,' says Willis. 'The first salmon was detected swimming upstream into that ancestral habitat in three days, which was just shocking. Then, within a month, 6,000 salmon were detected swimming upstream. I don't think anyone expected this quick of a response at this really large scale.'
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Mississippi River named the most endangered of 2025 by non-profit American Rivers
The Mississippi River rises to flood stage surrounding a highway outside Memphis in 2016. Memphis is again flooding this week after heavy rains. (Photo by Andrew Breig / Daily Memphian) The Mississippi River is the nation's most endangered river, a national conservation group says, because of federal plans to cut flood relief programs as severe weather threats grow. American Rivers, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, has issued an annual list of U.S. rivers it views as most at-risk for the past 40 years. The Mississippi's place at the top comes as communities along the lower river flooded from torrential rain in early April, and as Trump administration officials consider eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which helps state and local governments respond to disasters. The list calls attention to the threats rivers face and prioritizes those for which the public can influence policies that affect their well-being, said Mike Sertle, senior director for American Rivers' Central Region. For the Mississippi River, he said, the organization's goal is to press the federal government to maintain a role in disaster relief, which it says is critical to safeguarding people in river communities. 'We don't disagree that things need to be reviewed and updated,' Sertle said. 'But we also see there's importance to keeping the agency.' The Mississippi River has always flooded. While flooding threatens human structures, it is an important part of the Mississippi River's life cycle and actually builds land. But experts say floods are growing more frequent, erratic and severe due to climate change. In 2019, the river's most recent major flood, water stayed at or above flood stage for months and caused $20 billion in damage. FEMA assists communities during floods and other types of disasters, provides funds for recovery and oversees preparedness efforts, like its flood maps that predict risks in different areas. And it's doing so more often today. A January 2025 report to Congress found that the average number of major disaster declarations has increased by 61% from the 1980s and 1990s, partly due to climate change. But it has faced broad criticism for not moving quickly enough after disasters and not helping disaster survivors equally. President Donald Trump has floated the idea of dismantling the agency and in February the agency fired more than 200 of its staffers as part of Trump's push to shrink the size and scope of the federal government. The White House did not comment on the American Rivers' report's criticism of these actions. FEMA is especially important for coordinating flooding responses along the Mississippi River because it touches so many states on its journey to the Gulf, said Kelly McGinnis, executive director of the environmental advocacy group One Mississippi. She and Sertle both described significant room for improvement in how FEMA operates, including speeding up timelines for getting help to communities. The American Rivers report says a more effective and efficient FEMA is critical for flood management as the cycle of drought and flooding on the Mississippi River becomes increasingly extreme. Cuts to other federally funded flood management agencies will likely impact the Mississippi River beyond the threat to FEMA, the American Rivers report noted. 'FEMA plays a critical role in helping address issues in the aftermath of the flood,' said Alisha Renfro, coastal scientist with the National Wildlife Federation. 'On the front end, it's really about the Army Corps of Engineers and their budget is being threatened as well.' In March, a stopgap bill to fund the federal government through Sept. 30 slashed $1.4 billion from the Army Corps of Engineers' construction budget, which funds hurricane and flood mitigation projects. With budget losses to both FEMA and the Army Corps, grant programs to address riverine flooding could be impacted substantially. According to FEMA, every federal dollar spent on flood mitigation yields $7 in benefits. In a statement released after the announcement, the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative announced that it does not agree with the river's designation as the 'Nation's Most Endangered Waterway,' citing significant improvements including new natural infrastructure, landscape protections, added conservation lands and water quality integrity measures. But the group of mayors agreed that federal oversight of emergency management is needed. 'Disaster response along the Mississippi River is inherently a multi-state question and thus, FEMA needs to continue to play a vital role in coordinating the efforts of many states to systemically mitigate risks, recover, and restore infrastructure. MRCTI Mayors are ready to work with the President to reform FEMA, expand states' role and save taxpayer resources,' said Belinda Constant, MRCTI Louisiana State Chair and Mayor of Gretna, LA. American Rivers' announcement comes as states along the lower Mississippi are experiencing and bracing for flooding from heavy rains upriver. Vicksburg, Mississippi officials are reinforcing flood walls as they wait for water to arrive. In Louisiana, the Army Corps is patrolling New Orleans levees for problems. On Monday, the new Bayou Chene floodgate was closed for the first time due to high water to protect several parishes from backwater flooding as the Atchafalaya River continues to rise. The Mississippi has made the endangered rivers list in the recent past for other problems. In 2022, the entire river appeared on the list because of pollution and habitat loss, and in 2020, threats from climate change and development landed the upper Mississippi at number one. The river's continued appearances on the list show that there isn't enough progress being made on its biggest challenges, McGinnis said. But although the distinction may be negative, she said it's a good excuse to put river issues in the spotlight. 'I think it's very useful to be having these important conversations,' McGinnis said, 'so we can hopefully really begin to change how we handle big rivers.' This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation. American Rivers and MRCTI also receive Walton funding.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
EPA chief urges Mexico to help deliver '100% solution' to clean up polluted Tijuana River
U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Tuesday called for Mexico and the U.S. to develop a '100% solution' to stop the flow of raw sewage from Tijuana that has polluted the Tijuana River and left communities near the border coping with foul odors and beaches that are often closed because of high bacteria levels. 'Americans on our side of the border who have been dealing with this for decades are out of patience,' Zeldin said during a news conference in San Diego. 'They want action and they're right.' Zeldin visited the river north of the border and met with Mexican government officials as well as local officials in San Diego County. He said the Trump administration is seeking 'max collaboration and extreme urgency to end a crisis that should have ended a long time ago.' The Tijuana River has been plagued with untreated sewage and industrial waste from Tijuana for decades. The city's growth has far outpaced the existing sewage treatment plants, and inadequate and broken facilities spew waste into the river, polluting the water and air in Imperial Beach and other communities near the border. Zeldin met for about 90 minutes on Monday night with Mexican Environment Secretary Alicia Bárcena and other Mexican officials, who he said indicated that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her administration are 'fully committed to doing their part to resolving this issue.' Bárcena said in a post on social media that it was a 'very productive meeting.' 'We agreed to reinforce our joint actions,' Bárcena said, 'to accelerate the projects to address the sanitation of Rio Tijuana for the well-being of our communities.' Zeldin said Mexico still needs to provide $88 million that it previously pledged in a 2022 agreement. He said that U.S. and Mexican officials soon plan to draw up a 'specific statement from both countries' outlining actions the Mexican government will take to help address the problems. 'We all need to be on the same page on the 100% solution from the U.S. side that if all of these things on that list get done, this crisis is over,' Zeldin said. Read more: Inside the war over water brewing at the U.S.-Mexico border He didn't discuss costs or a timetable, but said the goal should be to 'to get every project done as fast as humanly possible.' The environmental group American Rivers last week ranked the Tijuana River No. 2 on its annual list of the nation's most endangered rivers, up from No. 9 on the list last year. The group said it elevated the river on the list to bring greater attention to the waterway's chronic pollution problems and the lack of action to clean it up. Environmental advocates have urged the U.S. government to prioritize fixing and expanding the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant north of the border, which handles sewage from Tijuana and is in disrepair. Zeldin toured the South Bay plant, where he met with Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre and other officials. With him were members of Congress including Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) and Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano). Levin said the U.S. government has appropriated $653 million for fixing and expanding the South Bay wastewater plant — an amount that steadily increased after an initial $300 million was committed in 2020. 'We've got to get those shovels in the ground,' Levin said. 'We've got to get the South Bay plant up and running, doubled in capacity, as quickly as possible.' Zeldin also said he was meeting with Navy SEALs who train in the area and have suffered illnesses because of the polluted water. In a recent report, the Department of Defense said about 1,100 cases of illness were reported among Navy SEALS and other service members who were exposed to high levels of bacteria when they trained in and around the ocean near the border. 'This has been a problem for decades. It hasn't been corrected. It's only gotten worse,' said Dan'l Steward, a retired Navy captain and former SEAL who lives in Coronado but did not attend Tuesday's events. Decades ago, Steward got sick after basic underwater SEAL training and had to take antibiotics to recover. Steward said he has heard similar stories from SEALs and candidates who undergo training along the beaches in Coronado. 'It's a national security issue,' Steward said. For Navy personnel in the area, he said, 'it's limiting them in their ability to properly train, and it's endangering their lives for the ones that are going through basic training in particular.' Others affected, he said, include Marines, Coast Guard service members and Border Patrol agents. Steward said his daughter, while surfing nearby, became sick with an infection from a type of bacteria called MRSA, which is resistant to many antibiotics. 'The United States has a role to help improve the situation,' Steward said. 'We all have a role to play here. And I also feel that's the only way to solve the problem.' Ramon Chairez, director of environmental advocacy for the Encinitas-based nonprofit group Un Mar de Colores, said he'd like to see various actions taken on the U.S. side of the border, including working to dismantle culverts where polluted water cascades down and sends noxious water vapor and gases into the air. Read more: Plagued with pollution for decades, Tijuana River is ranked nation's second most endangered Chairez said he thought Zeldin's focus on collaboration between Mexico and the U.S. made sense. 'Overall, I think the general tone is pointing more towards holding Mexico accountable, although there's some acknowledgment that it's going to be a collaborative effort on both sides of the border,' Chairez said. One topic that wasn't discussed but has contributed to the problems, he said, is that many U.S.-based companies have set up factories on the Mexican side of the border. 'I didn't hear a word about maquiladoras and factories and industries on the Mexican side and holding them accountable,' he said. 'There's American and California-based corporations operating all along the border, and especially in Tijuana, and they're polluting the river just as much.' Matthew Tejada, senior vice president of environmental health for the Natural Resources Defense Fund, said the commitments from U.S. officials sound good, but delivering on those pledges will be more complicated because of cuts in budget and staffing. He noted that Zeldin has said he wants to eliminate 65% of the Environmental Protection Agency's budget. 'It will be an interesting trick for EPA to achieve exactly those sorts of outcomes while they are internally tearing down the very staff and systems they need to actually make those changes happen,' Tejada said. He said the Trump administration's recent actions, including cutting funding and rolling back environmental protection measures, are 'making it that much harder for this country to actually have clean air, clean land and clean water.' This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
EPA chief urges Mexico to help deliver ‘100% solution' to clean up polluted Tijuana River
U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Tuesday called for Mexico and the U.S. to develop a '100% solution' to stop the flow of raw sewage from Tijuana that has polluted the Tijuana River and left communities near the border coping with foul odors and beaches that are often closed because of high bacteria levels. 'Americans on our side of the border who have been dealing with this for decades are out of patience,' Zeldin said during a news conference in San Diego. 'They want action and they're right.' Zeldin visited the river north of the border and met with Mexican government officials as well as local officials in San Diego County. He said the Trump administration is seeking 'max collaboration and extreme urgency to end a crisis that should have ended a long time ago.' The Tijuana River has been plagued with untreated sewage and industrial waste from Tijuana for decades. The city's growth has far outpaced the existing sewage treatment plants, and inadequate and broken facilities spew waste into the river, polluting the water and air in Imperial Beach and other communities near the border. Zeldin met for about 90 minutes on Monday night with Mexican Environment Secretary Alicia Bárcena and other Mexican officials, who he said indicated that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her administration are 'fully committed to doing their part to resolving this issue.' Bárcena said in a post on social media that it was a 'very productive meeting.' 'We agreed to reinforce our joint actions,' Bárcena said, 'to accelerate the projects to address the sanitation of Rio Tijuana for the well-being of our communities.' Zeldin said Mexico still needs to provide $88 million that it previously pledged in a 2022 agreement. He said that U.S. and Mexican officials soon plan to draw up a 'specific statement from both countries' outlining actions the Mexican government will take to help address the problems. 'We all need to be on the same page on the 100% solution from the U.S. side that if all of these things on that list get done, this crisis is over,' Zeldin said. He didn't discuss costs or a timetable, but said the goal should be to 'to get every project done as fast as humanly possible.' The environmental group American Rivers last week ranked the Tijuana River No. 2 on its annual list of the nation's most endangered rivers, up from No. 9 on the list last year. The group said it elevated the river on the list to bring greater attention to the waterway's chronic pollution problems and the lack of action to clean it up. Environmental advocates have urged the U.S. government to prioritize fixing and expanding the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant north of the border, which handles sewage from Tijuana and is in disrepair. Zeldin toured the South Bay plant, where he met with Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre and other officials. With him were members of Congress including Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) and Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano). Levin said the U.S. government has appropriated $653 million for fixing and expanding the South Bay wastewater plant — an amount that steadily increased after an initial $300 million was committed in 2020. 'We've got to get those shovels in the ground,' Levin said. 'We've got to get the South Bay plant up and running, doubled in capacity, as quickly as possible.' Zeldin also said he was meeting with Navy SEALs who train in the area and have suffered illnesses because of the polluted water. In a recent report, the Department of Defense said about 1,100 cases of illness were reported among Navy SEALS and other service members who were exposed to high levels of bacteria when they trained in and around the ocean near the border. 'This has been a problem for decades. It hasn't been corrected. It's only gotten worse,' said Dan'l Steward, a retired Navy captain and former SEAL who lives in Coronado but did not attend Tuesday's events. Decades ago, Steward got sick after basic underwater SEAL training and had to take antibiotics to recover. Steward said he has heard similar stories from SEALs and candidates who undergo training along the beaches in Coronado. 'It's a national security issue,' Steward said. For Navy personnel in the area, he said, 'it's limiting them in their ability to properly train, and it's endangering their lives for the ones that are going through basic training in particular.' Others affected, he said, include Marines, Coast Guard service members and Border Patrol agents. Steward said his daughter, while surfing nearby, became sick with an infection from a type of bacteria called MRSA, which is resistant to many antibiotics. 'The United States has a role to help improve the situation, even though their plants are south of the border,' Steward said. 'We all have a role to play here. And I also feel that's the only way to solve the problem.' Ramon Chairez, director of environmental advocacy for the Encinitas-based nonprofit group Un Mar de Colores, said he'd like to see various actions taken on the U.S. side of the border, including working to dismantle culverts where polluted water cascades down and sends polluted water vapor and gases into the air. Chairez said he thought Zeldin's focus on collaboration between Mexico and the U.S. made sense. 'Overall, I think the general tone is pointing more towards holding Mexico accountable, although there's some acknowledgment that it's going to be a collaborative effort on both sides of the border,' Chairez said. One topic that wasn't discussed but has contributed to the problems, he said, is that many U.S.-based companies have set up factories on the Mexican side of the border. 'I didn't hear a word about maquiladoras and factories and industries on the Mexican side and holding them accountable,' he said. 'There's American and California-based corporations operating all along the border, and especially in Tijuana, and they're polluting the river just as much.' Matthew Tejada, senior vice president of environmental health for the Natural Resources Defense Fund, said the commitments from U.S. officials sound good, but he also said delivering on those pledges will be more complicated because of cuts in budget and staffing. He noted that Zeldin has said he wants to eliminate 65% of the Environmental Protection Agency's budget. 'It will be an interesting trick for EPA to achieve exactly those sorts of outcomes while they are internally tearing down the very staff and systems they need to actually make those changes happen,' Tejada said. He said the Trump administration's recent actions, including cutting funding and rolling back environmental protection measures, are 'making it that much harder for this country to actually have clean air, clean land and clean water.'
