Protecting Rivers & Your Clean Water
Native Youth Restore Headwaters
Luke Hunt, Ph.D., Director, Headwaters Conservation
February 27, 2013 | Floods & Floodplains, Water Supply
On Sunday, Native youth from the Sierra foothills and American Rivers' staff got into the mud and planted hundreds of willows along an eroding stretch of Wolf Creek. Wolf Creek is the most recent in an 8-month series of teaching and restoration projects we have worked on with the Sierra Native Alliance Youth Conservation Corps. Youth measured stream flow, bank stability and beaver activity in Hope Valley. We also cleared invasive plants from an infested floodplain, and repaired trails on tributaries to the Yuba River.
Read more »River Impossible: The Hazard of Whittenton Dam and the Mill River Restoration
Brian Graber, Director, River Restoration Program, Northeast Region
February 26, 2013 | Dams & Dam Removal, Floods & Floodplains, Wild and Scenic Rivers
In 2005, the Whittenton Dam nearly failed, forcing 2,000 people to evacuate homes and businesses in downtown Taunton, Massachusetts. As the Mill River swelled around the dilapidated dam, senators, a governor, and CNN gathered and assessed the site. The dam was built to power a mill more than a century before, but it hadn’t served that purpose for decades. But like so many other dams, it remained in the river, a hazard that was nearly realized.
Read more »The Climate Conversation Continues
Fay Augustyn, Intermountain West Blue Trails Manager
February 15, 2013 | Climate Change
Earlier this week, President Obama reinvigorated the debate on climate change during his State of the Union:
“But for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change..."
River Restoration In Oakley, CA Engages Community
Sara Larsen, Administrative Assistant, Berkeley
February 13, 2013 | Floods & Floodplains, Urban Rivers
Like too many creeks across the country, Marsh Creek was “improved” by the Soil Conservation Service in the early 1960’s. Until recently, the lower six miles was a treeless, trapezoidal flood control channel fenced off from surrounding properties. American Rivers’ partners, the Natural Heritage Institute and Friends of Marsh Creek Watershed, worked with the City of Oakley and the local flood control district to restore a section of channel and reconnect the creek to the community.
Read more »Success on South Carolina's Saluda
Amy Souers Kober, Senior Director of Communications
February 12, 2013 | Dams & Dam Removal
American Rivers is helping secure key clean water protections for South Carolina's Saluda River through the hydropower dam relicensing effort. Check out this video by Andy Maser on the project.
Read more »Don't Suck the Fraser River Dry
Matt Rice, Director, Colorado Conservation
February 12, 2013 | Climate Change, Water Supply
Denver Water already sucks 60% of the annual flows from the Fraser River, and they now want to take more: another 15%. Sign the Defend the Colorado petition today and tell Denver that before they take more water, they need to protect the Fraser River. Tell Denver Water: Don’t Suck the Fraser River Dry!
Read more »Ask the Secretary of Interior to Protect the Chetco River
Jessie Thomas-Blate, Coordinator, Most Endangered Rivers
February 12, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Wild and Scenic Rivers
The Wild and Scenic Chetco River is renowned for its world-class salmon and steelhead runs, and crystal clear water. However, it is still vulnerable to mining thanks to the General Mining Law of 1872 – which gives mining precedence over all other uses. Out of concern for the impact that this mining could have on this special place, American Rivers listed the Chetco as one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2010.
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