The 10 Most Endangered Rivers in America

According to many experts, the climate crisis is also a water crisis. As a result ten rivers in the United States are endangered, which provide drinking and irrigation water, as well as electricity and food production.

Endangered #1. The Colorado River

The Colorado River is being endangered by two factors: The climate crisis and outdated water management.

Snow that falls high in the mountains of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming is what feeds the Colorado River. The river runs from the new Rocky Mountains north of Denver Southwest into Utah, continuing into Arizona, winding its way into southeastern Nevada, continuing south through southeastern California and southwestern Arizona, eventually into Mexico and the Gulf of California.

Throughout this journey, human-made dams and coal-ash contamination have worsened the situation. Water from the river is in high demand as it supplies water needs for Las Vegas (90%), Tucson (82%), and San Diego (66%). Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Denver also draw large portions of their water supplies from the river. Water managers have long understood the river is plagued by overuse, with demand outstripping its supply over the last decade, CNN reported. The flows of the Colorado River have shrunk by 20% compared to the 20th-century average, due in large part to drought and climate change. Lake Mead, its largest reservoir and the largest in the US, is only 35% full. Lake Powell, the river’s second-largest reservoir, is only 32% full.

Endangered #2. The Snake River

The second-most endangered river in the United States is also in the West, flowing through three states: Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Federally built dams have also endangered salmon species, which indigenous people have long relied on. Climate warming has also heated up the river, further endangering its native species of salmon. Scientists are calling on local and federal officials to remove the four federal dams, arguing it’s the only strategy to recover the Snake River salmon species.

Endangered #3. The Mobile River

Pollutants, most prominently coal ash which is a byproduct of burning coal for electricity, are the biggest threat to the Mobile River, America’s third-most endangered waterway, CNN reports. Studies have also detected heavy metals and other contaminants that seep into groundwater from nearby plants in the river. These heavy metals have been linked to cancer, lung disease, and birth defects.

Endangered #6. The Mississippi River

The Mississippi River winds through 10 states as it flows from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. It faces a significant risk from contaminants that are flowing into the river from fossil fuel facilities and farm fertilizers. With its enormous tributaries, the Mississippi River drains all or parts of 32 US states.

The 10 most endangered US rivers

Here are ten rivers in the United States that are the most in danger, according to American Rivers. Five of the rivers are located in the western US. These rivers are responsible for drinking water, irrigation, energy production, and food supply.

1. Colorado River (Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California)

Factors: Climate crisis, outdated water management

2. Snake River (Washington, Oregon, Idaho)

Factors: Four federal dams

3. Mobile River (Alabama)

Factors: Coal ash contamination

4. Maine’s Atlantic Salmon Rivers

Factors: Dams

5. Coosa River (Alabama)

Factors: Agricultural pollution

6. Mississippi River (Minnesota, Wyoming, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana)

Factors: Pollution, habitat loss