Missouri River ‘most endangered’

Army Corps

of Engineers singled out for dredging, dams

The Gavins Point Dam on the Missouri River in South Dakota is one of many built by the Army Corps of Engineers in a bid to make the river more navigable. The advocacy group American Rivers say the policy is destroying the river's wildlife.

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April 2 — An advocacy group on Tuesday released its annual list of endangered rivers, blaming dredging and damming by the Army Corps of Engineers for problems at four rivers. American Rivers accused the Corps of favoring shipping over fish, and said the most endangered river — the Missouri — was a case in point.

‘... Corps projects require continued infusions of tax dollars, and this dependence is nearly impossible to break.’

— REBECCA WODDER

American Rivers president “THE CORPS of Engineers’ water projects have put more than 30 rivers on our endangered rivers list since 1986, sometimes more than once,” Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers, said in a statement. “It’s time to get the Corps off its path of destruction and onto a new path of stewardship of our natural resources.”

In the case of the Missouri River — the nation’s longest and a key inland shipping route — the advocacy group last January got support from the National Academy of Sciences, which concluded that “degradation of the Missouri River ecosystem will continue” unless at least part of it is returned to its natural flow.

But American Rivers’ view — that shipping projects tend to ruin habitat for fish and compound flooding by redirecting rivers — is countered by Corps supporters who see large rivers as ideal transportation corridors for farm and industrial products.

The Corps is now weighing six options for the Missouri, which flows 2,341 miles through seven states, from Three Forks, Mont., to St. Louis. They include doing nothing as well as a plan to create a more seasonal ebb and flow, mimicking how mountain snowmelt makes the river surge by releasing more water every third spring and lowering the water levels each summer. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service insists the changes are the only way to comply with the Endangered Species Act.

Missouri River

American Rivers, a group that lobbies for restoring key rivers to their natural flow, has issued its Most Endangered list for 2002. Many of the rivers have become battlefields between environmentalists and those who feel shipping, farming and other development are vital interests as well.

MISSOURI RIVERThe river runs through Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. Dams operated by the Army Corps of Engineers help barges but hinder fish. The Corps should "modernize its dam operations to restore more natural seasonal water levels and reverse the river's decline," American Rivers said.

BIG SUNFLOWERThe Army Corps of Engineers plans to dredge and drain 200,000 acres of wetlands that surround this Mississippi river. American Rivers said the $250 million project would only help large landowners, while harming wildlife.

KLAMATHShared by California and Oregon, the river has become a battleground between farmers and those seeking to protect fish. Salmon populations have dropped to less than 8 percent of their historic averages, American Rivers said, and officials must give more weight to the fish.

KANSASFarm and livestock runoff continue to pollute the river. Citing concerns about state changes in water quality standards, American Rivers urged the Environmental Protection Agency to do more to enforce the federal Clean Water Act.

POWDERMining by the growing "coal bed methane" industry produces low-quality water as a byproduct, American Rivers noted, and some of that enters this Wyoming river, where it hurts the ecosystem.

WHITEAn Army Corps of Engineers irrigation project would pull 100 billion gallons of water from this Arkansas river each year, American Rivers said. The Corps is also proposing to build hundreds of mini-dikes along 250 miles of the lower river, which is one of the ecologically richest areas in the lower 48 states.

ALTAMAHAFast growth in the Atlanta area, and the subsequent demand for water and power, "threatens to overwhelm the Altamaha River," American Rivers said. "One of the healthiest rivers on the Eastern seaboard faces a future of perpetual drought," it said.

ALLAGASHThe Allagash Wilderness Waterway has federal protection but a move by some Maine lawmakers could erode that, American Rivers said. If that happens, it said, "the public will lose the best opportunity for a true wilderness experience in the crowded Northeast."

CANNINGThe river marks the western border of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, separating it from Alaska's oil industry. Drilling in the refuge, as some lawmakers propose, could alter waterways and lead to large gravel mines in the river's flood plain, American Rivers said.

GUADALUPEThis Texas river, home of the whooping crane, is threatened by growing demand for water. American Rivers said it hopes a conservation group's efforts to secure water rights, and then leave the water in the river, will be successful.

APALACHICOLAThe Army Corps of Engineer is dredging this Florida river for commercial shipping, American Rivers said, "destroying" it "by scouring the river bottom, dumping the dredge material in sensitive habitat and aggressively manipulating the flow."

Source: MSNBC

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CORPS AND OTHER RIVERS

American Rivers said its endangered list was not a ranking of the most chronically polluted rivers but those where threats could be eliminated if action is taken.

The Corps was also criticized for dredging and shipping projects on three other rivers: The Big Sunflower River in Mississippi; the White River in Arkansas; and the Apalachicola River in Florida.

“Far too often, the Corps builds projects to serve special interests instead of the public interest,” Wodder said. “Once built, the operation of many Corps projects require continued infusions of tax dollars, and this dependence is nearly impossible to break no matter how much harm or how few benefits are being generated from projects dreamed up decades ago.”

The two sides have also squared off in Congress and Corps critics did win a battle last month when President Bush fired the Corps director, Michael Parker, after just six months on the job.

The reason: Parker had encouraged Congress to increase Corps spending, defying Bush’s budget proposal of a 10 percent cut for the Corps.

Click on a continent for some statistics and background provided by the World Commission on Water in the 21st Century.North America:The United States and Canada are the largest per capita consumers of freshwater, double that of Mexico, for example.Though supply has been abundant in the past, that may change. The High Plains Aquifer in the central United States is expected to “decline dramatically.”Pollution, invasive species and underpriced water add to the stress in the region.South America:Due to fast population growth, the region’s major environmental problem of the next decade is expected to be a shortage of potable water.Europe:Western Europe is pricing water at levels that allow for reinvestment and management of an adequate water supply.Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, on the other hand, are still using more water per capita than Western Europe. In Eastern Europe, a business-as-usual scenario estimates water use will nearly double by 2025.Overall, water issues have more to do with quality and ecosystems than with quantity, which appears sufficient.Africa:More than half the population has no access to safe water, fewer today than in 1990.Almost half suffer from water-related diseases.In southern Africa, a business-as-usual scenario estimates water use will rise by half by 2025.Asia:Nearly a third of the region has no access to safe water.Central Asia is already using 85 percent of available water, and South Asia nearly half.Per capita availability of water has dropped by 70 percent in Central and South Asia since 1950.In China, a business-as-usual scenario estimates water use will rise by half by 2025.Australia:Water use increased by 25 percent in the mid-1990s, compared with the mid-1980s. At the same time, the water supply has been degraded, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin in the southeast.

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MAKING CASE FOR CHANGE

American Rivers noted that the Corps has dredged 11,000 miles of navigation channels and built thousands of “wing dikes” and other structures. “This transformation,” it argues, “is a leading reason why America’s freshwater fish and wildlife is disappearing five times faster than species that live on land.”

It also uses an economic argument to curry favor. “Taxpayers for Common Sense,” it noted, “estimates that cutting just the 25 worst projects from the Corps’ budget could save $6 billion in the next several years.”

The group’s proposals, which have made their way into legislation, include:

Independent peer review of the economic viability and ecological soundness of new Corps projects.

Stricter requirements for replacing habitat damaged by project construction.

New procedures for determining the economic benefits of proposed projects.

The other rivers on the endangered list are: the Klamath in California and Oregon; the Kansas; the Powder in Wyoming; the Altamaha in Georgia; the Allagash in Maine; the Canning in Alaska; and the Guadalupe in Texas.

MSNBC.com’s Miguel Llanos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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