America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2024 Spotlights Threats to Your Clean Water
From South Carolina to Alaska, from Connecticut to California, report calls for urgent action
“Without this river, we would not be able to survive,” says Vicente Fernandez, acequia mayordomo and community leader in New Mexico.
New Mexico is the state hardest hit by a recent Supreme Court ruling that left virtually all of the state’s streams and wetlands vulnerable to pollution. This federal action opens the door to potential harmful downstream impacts to the Rio Grande, Gila, San Juan, and Pecos rivers.
It threatens Vicente’s livelihood, and so many others across New Mexico.
This is why the Rivers of New Mexico are #1 in America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2024 – our annual report that amplifies local leaders calling for solutions to urgent river threats.
This year’s report shines a spotlight on threats to clean water nationwide – for example:
- Tennessee’s Duck River, a drinking water source and hotspot for biodiversity, is at risk from excessive water withdrawals
- California and Mexico’s Tijuana River, is choked with pollution causing illness and beach closures
- California’s Trinity River, a vital source of clean, cold water for the Klamath River, is at risk from water diversions
- Connecticut’s Farmington River, the drinking water source for nearly 400,000 people, is threatened by a hydropower dam causing toxic algae outbreaks
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We chose the 2024 list of Most Endangered Rivers with support from partners nationwide. Groups and individuals shared their nominations, and as we do every year, we built the list based on three key criteria:
- The importance of the river to people and wildlife
- The magnitude of the threat
- A decision point in the coming year that the public can influence
This is the 39th year of America’s Most Endangered Rivers, and it has a track record of results. By teaming up with local partners, generating significant media attention, and galvanizing the public to contact decision-makers and call for solutions we make a big impact together. Over the years, this campaign has helped stop pollution in the Buffalo National River, and it helped protect the Boundary Waters from mining. It played an important role in protecting Wyoming’s beautiful Hoback River, and it has contributed to dam removal efforts from the Penobscot to the Klamath to the Eel.
We’re confident that with your help, we can keep the positive momentum going.
You can learn about America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2024 by reading the report and watching our video presentation. We also hope you will take action for the rivers, and support our partners – the heart and soul of this campaign.
And, if anyone asks you why protecting small streams is so important for ensuring clean drinking water in New Mexico and nationwide, you can introduce them to Splashy – a little character we dreamed up to advance efforts to strengthen the Clean Water Act.
Stronger clean water protections at the federal level are essential to safeguarding America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2024, and rivers everywhere.
“All water is connected. We cannot allow pollution anywhere without risk to the rivers we rely on for our drinking water,” said Tom Kiernan, President and CEO of American Rivers. “Our leaders must hold polluters accountable and strengthen the Clean Water Act to safeguard our health and communities.”
America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2024:
#1: Rivers of New Mexico
Threat: Loss of federal clean water protections
#2: Big Sunflower and Yazoo Rivers – Mississippi
Threat: Yazoo Pumps project threatens wetlands
#3: Duck River – Tennessee
Threat: Excessive water use
#4: Santa Cruz River – Arizona
Threat: Water scarcity, climate change
#5: Little Pee Dee River – North Carolina, South Carolina
Threat: Harmful development, highway construction
#6: Farmington River – Connecticut, Massachusetts
Threat: Hydropower dam
#7: Trinity River – California
Threat: Outdated water management
#8: Kobuk River – Alaska
Threat: Road construction
#9 Tijuana River – California, Mexico
Threat: Pollution
#10: Blackwater River – West Virginia
Threat: Highway development
