The conservation group American Rivers released its annual list of the 20 most endangered rivers in North America. Here is the list of rivers, the states and other localities in which they are found and the threats they face:
1. Hanford Reach of the Columbia River in Washington; agricultural development, nuclear waste contamination
2. Missouri River in Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri; dams, channelization
3. Pocomoke River in Maryland, factory poultry farms
4. Kern River in California; small hydropower dams
5. Blackfoot River in Montana; gold mine
6. Colorado River Delta in Baja California, Mexico; overuse of water
7. Chattahoochee River in Georgia, Alabama and Florida; development, polluted runoff, sewage overflows
8. Lower Snake River in Washington; dams
9. Apple River in Wisconsin and Illinois; factory hog farms
10. Pinto Creek in Arizona; copper mine
11. Wolf River in Wisconsin; zinc, copper sulfide mine
12. Potomac River in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia and Pennsylvania; factory poultry farms and cattle feedlots, development
13. Rogue-Illinois river system (including Elk Creek and Rough & Ready Creek) in Oregon; dams, nickel laterite mine
14. Taku River in Alaska and British Columbia; copper, gold mine
15. Crooked Creek in Arkansas; in-stream gravel mining
16. Passaic River in New Jersey; contaminated sediments
17. Mattaponi River in Virginia; dam and reservoir
18. Walla Walla River in Oregon and Washington; agricultural pollution, low flows, channelization
19. Uinta River in Utah; dam
20. Kansas River in Kansas; agricultural and municipal pollution
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