Mississippi River Leads Endangered Rivers List

(Ste. Genevieve) The Mississippi River is the backbone of many Missouri communities and a new report warns this river is at a major crossroad right now.

The upper Mississippi, which includes the river along the Missouri border is ranked by “American Rivers” as the country’s top Most Endangered River.

The Missouri River is also in the top 5 of the endangered river list.

Olivia Dorothy with the American Rivers organization says increasingly severe flooding spurred by climate change threatens both waterways.

Dorothy says state and local governments should commit to nature-based solutions, including levee setbacks and floodplain restoration.

The report says last year’s flooding caused more than 6-billion dollars in damages and left communities under water for weeks, and some for many months.

Dorothy says river-management decisions that allow higher levees and risky floodplain development will only intensify such threats in the future.

Newsletter