American Rivers organization names the Upper Mississippi "America's Most Endangered River of 2020"

Like LWV UMRR, American Rivers is a Mississippi River Network member. American Rivers is a national river advocacy organization that releases an annual report of America's 'Most Endangered Rivers'. Number one on the list for Most Endangered Rivers of 2020 is our beloved Upper Mississippi River. In her latest blog, Kristen Mertz, recaps the Most Endangered River listing, highlighting issues and opportunities, while also sharing about the criteria used to generate the report.

Mississippi River Flooding, photo by Crystal Dorothy of American Rivers

​From a post on the Mississippi River Netowrks blog,  "American Rivers has defined the greatest threats to the Upper Mississippi River as climate change and poor floodplain and watershed management. Climate change is closely linked to flooding, due to heavier, and more frequent precipitation along the Mississippi River. Not only are we accumulating greater rainfall, but we are also increasing our runoff as well. Olivia Dorothy, Director of the Upper Mississippi River Basin at American Rivers, notes that sediment runoff also raises the riverbed and exacerbates flooding.

Additionally, in urban settings, the banks of the Upper Mississippi River have been overdeveloped with impervious pavements that do not assist in filtering the pollution before it enters our waterway.

What can you do?  Contact your local politicians and tell them that you want them to address Mississippi River flooding through use of restored wetlands and other natural upland water storage tools.  We can make the Mississippi better!