Great Lakes Projects
Playing a lead role in your area through our clean water projects.
2010 Dam Removals
Our list of 60 dams that were removed in 2010, benefitting hundreds of miles of rivers nationwide.
2012 Dams Removed
Communities in 19 states, working in partnership with non-profit organizations and state and federal agencies, removed 65 dams in 2012, American Rivers announced today. Outdated or unsafe dams came out of rivers across the nation, restoring 400 miles of streams for the benefit of fish, wildlife and people across the country.
America's Most Endangered Rivers: Progress and Success: 2005 - 2009
Updates and success stories on how American Rivers has been able to restore and protect some of our most endangered rivers. These successes include projects that combatted dam construction, toxic water, logging, reservoirs, and pollution.
Egg Lake Dam Removal & First River Restoration Project
American Rivers is partnering with U.S. Forest Service with funding support from the state of Minnesota through the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council’s Conservation Partners Legacy Grant program to remove this inoperable dam, reconnect stream habitats and reestablish wetlands at the project site. This project will result in unobstructed flows in at least 2 miles of headwater habitat and will include road decommissioning to remove unneeded access roads.
Floodplain and Wetlands Restoration Projects
Green Infrastructure to Alleviate Flooding
American Rivers completed retrofitting over 12 acres of impervious surface in the Wilson Park Creek Subwatershed.
Local Stormwater Codes and Ordinances
American Rivers is working at the local level to review current codes and ordinances to provide sound recommendations to Planning Commissions and legislative bodies to reduce hard surfaces, create incentives to implement low impact development techniques such as rain gardens, bioretention, and green roofs, and protect buffers. These local changes will reduce polluted stormwater runoff and flooding and increase greenspace.
Transforming Urban Gardens
American Rivers and the Garden District Neighborhood Association recently received a grant through Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District’s Green Infrastructure Partnership Program. The funding is helping transform an area on Milwaukee’s Southside into a sustainable showcase for urban community gardens across the country.
Westlawn Redevelopment
American Rivers was recently recognized for their work with the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee. Over the past year we helped the Housing Authority secure $225,000 from the Fund for Lake Michigan of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation for bioswales in a reconstruction project of Wisconsin's largest public housing cluster on Milwaukee's northwest side.
