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Rice explained to CNN that the climate crisis is really a water crises. The Colorado River Basin is the ground zero of that crisis. “We are being forced in realtime to live alongside the river we have, in order to adapt to a hotter and drier reality within the Colorado River.”
Rivers are an important source of water, food, and energy. These long, flowing bodies of water are vital to many cultures and communities — particularly tribal nations — and are home to a plethora of important species like salmon and trout. They are also important for sustaining ecosystems and restoring groundwater.
American Rivers, in collaboration with other conservation groups, has published the endangered river list since the 1980s. It curates the endangered rivers list based upon major proposed actions that the public can influence, the importance of the river for people and ecosystems, and the severity of the threat.
Rice described the Colorado as a river in crisis due to climate change. “This river is different from what it was two, three, or five years ago. We must learn how to live with the river we have and implement solutions to help us do that.
The Colorado River system is operating at a deficit. However, the report states that the climate crisis will likely continue the river’s flow reduction by 10 to 30 percent by 2050.
He said, “If the river crashes it’s an economic disaster that could have major consequences not only for the Southwest but also for cities like Los Angeles or Phoenix or Las Vegas.” “I would argue it’s a national crisis. This is a national story.
The Snake River, which runs through parts of Idaho and Oregon, is ranked No. 2 on the endangered list. For years, tribes and local community leaders in the Pacific Northwest — Washington, Idaho, and Oregon — have ramped up efforts to save endangered salmon species from federally built dams. As the planet heats, the river’s waters are also heating up, further threatening the lives of salmon species that Indigenous people depend on.
Scientists have been calling for the removal of four federal dams along the Snake River by state governors and other government officials, claiming that it’s the only strategy to recover the Snake River salmon species.
Rice stated that dams are the reason salmon populations are plummeting in the Columbia Basin. “So I believe that this is a very important story to tell. There’s again an opportunity to get this done politically and remove those dams.
The Mississippi River, which flows through nine states, including Minnesota and the Gulf of Mexico, was also ranked number 6. American Rivers reported that the river is now at number 6 on its endangered list because of the new contaminants that have been introduced from farm fertilizers, fossil fuel facilities, and other sources.
The annual endangered rivers reports have been an important tool to remove aging dams, protect rivers, and stop new industrial development and polluting infrastructural from being built in crucial river basins.
Rice said that the stakes were high. Rice stated that while this listing is not meant as a doom & gloom listing, it is intended to elevate the federal funding available for these solutions. We have the resources to do this. [adapt]We just need the leadership and the collaboration to make it happen at scale.
