Most Endangered U.S. Rivers

The conservation group, American Rivers, has released its 2009 list of the 10 most endangered rivers in the U.S., with threats from dams, development, and energy production posing the greatest risk to U.S. waterways. American Rivers said the most endangered river is California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River system, which supplies water to 26 million people and faces demands for greater water withdrawals, as well as environmental harm from dams and flood control systems. It was followed by the following rivers and threats: Georgia’s Flint River — dam construction in response to drought; the Lower Snake River in the Pacific Northwest — salmon depletion from existing dams; Mattowoman Creek in Maryland — highway construction and development; the North Fork of the Flathead River in Montana — mining threats; Saluda River in South Carolina — sewage pollution; Laurel Hill Creek in Pennsylvania — excessive water withdrawals for natural gas extraction; Beaver Creek in Alaska — oil and gas development; Pascagoula River in Mississippi — underground petroleum storage; the Lower St. Croix in Minnesota and Wisconsin — development.