The America’s Most Endangered Rivers® report listed the Upper Mississippi at the top of their 2020 list because of the compounding threat that climate change and poor river and watershed management pose to public safety along the river.
The America’s Most Endangered Rivers® report is one of the best-known and longest-lived annual reports in the environmental movement. Each year since 1984, grassroots river conservationists have teamed up with American Rivers to use the report to save their local rivers, consistently scoring policy successes that benefit these rivers and the communities through which they flow.
American Rivers reviews nominations for the America’s Most Endangered Rivers report from river groups and concerned citizens across the country. Rivers are selected based upon the following criteria:
- A major decision (that the public can help influence) in the coming year on the proposed action;
- The significance of the river to human and natural communities;
- The magnitude of the threat to the river and associated communities, especially in light of a changing climate
The report highlights ten rivers whose fate will be decided in the coming year, and encourages decision-makers to do the right thing for the rivers and the communities they support. It presents alternatives to proposals that would damage rivers, identifies those who make the crucial decisions, and points out opportunities for the public to take action on behalf of each listed river.
