America's top 10 most endangered rivers in 2014

Top 10 Endangered Rivers USA 2014
Promo image American Rivers

American Rivers has released its sad top 10 of the most endangered rivers in the United States in 2014. Topping the list is the San Joaquin River, Central California’s largest river. Why is it in such bad shape?

Well, for years the San Joaquin has been managed badly primarily to meet the needs of agriculture, hydropower, flood control, etc. It has dams, levees, and all kinds of excessive water diversions which have have hurt the river habitats and reduced community access. Over one 100 miles of the mainstream river have been dry for over 50 years and the diversions along the tributaries take more than 70% of the natural flow.

EPA/Public Domain

Here's the complete top 10, with links to descriptions of each river, what threatens it, and most importantly, what must be done to fix the problem.

1. San Joaquin River
2. Upper Colorado River
3. Middle Mississippi River
4. Gila River
5. San Francisquito Creek
6. South Fork Edisto River
7. White River (Colorado)
8. White River (Washington)
9. Haw River
10. Clearwater/Lochsa Rivers

That's not the whole problem, though. The EPA says that 55 percent of U.S. rivers and streams are in poor condition.

For your pleasure, here's a map showing all the rivers in the USA (more details and the ability to zoom in here):

Nelson Minar/CC BY-SA 2.0

Via American Rivers

Tags: Rivers