In no particular order, here’s a snapshot of 10 of our biggest river wins of 2025: 

1. Secured major wins for America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2025 

Our 2025 America’s Most Endangered Rivers® report ranked the Tijuana River #2 due to toxic pollution threatening border communities. This designation, developed with partners Surfrider Foundation and Un Mar de Colores, helped catalyze swift federal action. Within three months of the April report release, American Rivers and others were invited to meet with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in southern California, which helped build momentum for a landmark agreement between the United States and Mexico to address the ongoing public health crisis. This demonstrates how strategic advocacy, combined with persistent community leadership, drives solutions for rivers and their communities. 

The Rappahannock River’s designation as one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2025 brought crucial national attention to the threats facing Virginia’s longest free-flowing river. But this spotlight did more than raise awareness; it galvanized action that delivered tangible results. Working alongside our dedicated partners, The Friends of the Rappahannock, the Rappahannock Tribe, and the Southern Environmental Law Center, we achieved a significant victory for the river and the communities that depend on it. This collaborative effort secured permit changes for a proposed data center, banning industrial cooling withdrawals and reducing drought withdrawals by millions of gallons.

2. Mobilized action to protect Public Lands and Roadless Areas 

Bipartisan public outcry over a disastrous sell-off provision in a massive tax and spending bill led to the protection of public lands and the rivers that flow through them. Victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat thanks to supporters like you. 

The Trump administration is looking to rescind the Roadless Rule, which protects clean water and wildlife habitat by preventing road construction and timber harvest on roughly 45 million acres of national forests. This would be a significant setback (100,000 river miles) to our goal of protecting one million miles of rivers. Our team is making sure decision makers understand the impacts to clean drinking water supplies and we are mobilizing our supporters (we’ve collected more than 10,000 signatures so far) in support of these important river protections.

3. Safeguarding Montana’s Gallatin and Madison Rivers 

Rep. Ryan Zinke (MT) introduced the Greater Yellowstone Recreation Enhancement and Tourism Act (GYREAT Act) – Wild and Scenic legislation to protect nearly 100 miles of the Gallatin and Madison rivers and their tributaries in southwestern Montana. This legislation was developed through collaboration with American Rivers and our partners. If passed, these protections would create a vital corridor linking the rivers of Yellowstone National Park to the headwaters of the Missouri River.

4. Defending healthy rivers and Tribal sovereignty 

American Rivers helped rally national, regional, and local partners in urging the Department of Transportation to protect aquatic connectivity programs — efforts that restore fish passage, reconnect rivers and wetlands, and replace outdated culverts and road crossings. The joint comment letter was signed by 140 groups — including Tribes, anglers, businesses, universities, research institutions, conservation organizations, community leaders, agencies, faith groups, and planners — all united for healthier, more connected waterways. 

Additionally, when the Department of Energy urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to roll back its 2024 policy protecting Tribal sovereignty in hydropower permitting, American Rivers acted fast. Working with Tribal attorneys, Native networks, and partner organizations, we mobilized national opposition and filed formal comments — demonstrating our deep commitment to Tribal leadership and ensuring healthy rivers. We’ll continue working alongside Tribal partners to ensure these protections remain strong.

5. Restoring mountain meadows in California 

American Rivers is a key member of The Sierra Meadows Partnership, a coalition of environmental organizations working together to restore 30,000 acres of mountain meadows by 2030. These meadows act as natural sponges that store water, improve drought resilience, and provide essential wildlife habitat. Through this collaborative effort, we successfully secured a $24.7 million block grant from the Wildlife Conservation Board to support our restoration work.

6. Advanced critical protections for New Mexico’s waterways 

After naming New Mexico’s waterways #1 on America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2024 list, we’re celebrating significant wins across the state. In the Pecos watershed — home to elk, black bears, Rio Grande cutthroat trout, and generations-old acequia farms — the Department of Interior paused new mining claims across 165,000 acres while pursuing longer-term protections. Through advocacy with our partners, we helped secure Outstanding National Resource Waters protection for over 250 miles of rivers across five watersheds, including the Rio Grande. And now, Senator Heinrich (NM) and the All Pueblo Council of Governors are championing protection of the Caja del Rio — a 107,000-acre landscape along the Rio Grande and Santa Fe rivers that holds deep cultural significance for Puebloan and Hispanic communities while supporting diverse wildlife.

7. Furthering community safety through dam awareness 

American Rivers spoke on panels and hosted webinars addressing the deadly threat of low head dams, generating hundreds of participants from across the dam removal and safety industries. A low head dam is a human-made structure that spans the full width of a river and is designed to allow water to continuously flow over it, creating a dangerous hydraulic and earning them the nickname “drowning machines.” Our educational workshops brought together leading experts to discuss solutions for addressing these public safety hazards while advancing river restoration solutions.

8. Building momentum for dam removal across the Northeast 

American Rivers is celebrating a wave of funding that will free multiple rivers across the Northeast. We were awarded $220,000 to remove the Yopp Pond dam on the Fourmile River in Connecticut — the first barrier blocking this coastal river that drains to Long Island Sound. Fisheries biologists note this removal will be transformational for alewife runs in this critical watershed. Additionally, New Hampshire Fish and Game committed $150,000 to support two strategic dam removals: North Branch Gale dam in the Upper Connecticut River watershed and Mead Brook dam in the Contoocook River watershed. Both dams impact excellent cold-water habitat and are scheduled for removal in 2026. Additionally, the Davis Conservation Foundation granted $20,000 for our hydropower relicensing work in Maine.

9. Defended Idaho’s Salmon River 

Along with our partners at Advocates for the West and coalition members in Idaho, American Rivers and our Action Fund filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service to prevent a massive open-pit gold mine at the headwaters of the South Fork Salmon River. This important waterway is a national treasure that provides critical spawning habitat for the longest-distance, high-elevation salmon migration on Earth, as well as world-class whitewater recreation and fishing. It has been listed as one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® for three consecutive years.

10.  Improved wildfire resilience in California 

American Rivers and our partner, Terra Fuego Resources Foundation, completed prescribed fire burns on 160 acres as part of a 570-acre fuel reduction and prescribed fire project — a critical effort to protect the South Yuba River and the communities of Nevada City and Grass Valley from catastrophic wildfire. In a major boost for river restoration, the California Wildlife Conservation Board approved nearly $5 million to launch the Pickel Meadow Restoration Project on the West Walker River. Construction begins this summer, marking an exciting next chapter for this important watershed.

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This year’s progress is thanks to you and thousands of passionate advocates, partners, volunteers, and expert staff who contribute to our mission daily. Together, we’re building a future of healthy rivers and clean water for everyone, everywhere.

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Since 1979, the branch of the federal government responsible for this has been the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also known as FEMA. Originally formed under an executive order by President Jimmy Carter, FEMA is tasked with helping Americans before, during, and after a disaster. 

Before an event 

Before a disaster, FEMA helps communities and individuals prepare for an anticipated disaster with regular training, engagement, and education, so state and local officials are prepared to handle the event, evacuate people, and keep the community as safe as possible under difficult conditions. 

This includes actions like knowing the flood risk in your neighborhood and, if your property sits in a FEMA flood zone, having flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is administered by FEMA. The agency also works with local and state planners to consider floodplain management to help reduce the risk of flooding to adjacent communities. 

FEMA provides grants and other programs to help make communities more resilient to natural disasters, as well as offer training and educational tools to local and state emergency managers so everyone is prepared with the latest technology and best practices to respond to extreme weather events. 

During the disaster 

During a disaster, if the damage is significant enough to qualify for federal assistance, a governor or a tribal leader can apply for a Presidential disaster declaration. Once the sitting president approves a disaster declaration, FEMA coordinates with local and state leaders on providing the necessary assistance to support the recovery efforts. 

In some instances, this may require FEMA to utilize the broader efforts of the federal government to support disaster response assistance, like requesting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help with infrastructure assessments. In other cases, state authorities may have the appropriate help on the ground, but they need additional FEMA funds to ensure the work gets done, like overtime pay for local emergency responders and debris cleanup.  

Clean-up and recovery 

After a disaster, FEMA is still available to provide public and private assistance to recover and rebuild. FEMA will often work with local leaders on developing a recovery framework so communities can get the physical help and financial support as fast as possible to return to business as normal. This could be in the form of temporary housing while structures are rebuilt, or making sure communities are reconstructed with techniques that are designed to mitigate future disasters. FEMA also processes flood-insurance claims from homeowners with policies through the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP. 

The role of FEMA has evolved since it was first established in 1979. It continues to change as more responsibility has been placed on it, due to an increasing number of natural disasters that have caused significant economic damage in communities across the United States. There is a current push for states to take more accountability for disaster response, with FEMA playing a smaller role and pushing states to play a bigger role in paying for the disaster preparation, response, and recovery. At the moment, state capability to step up and lead in disaster management varies widely, so it is essential that FEMA remains well funded and rebuilds its staff to help all communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from floods and other disasters.  

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Meteorologists, floodplain managers, and the media often use the term “100-year flood” as shorthand for an event that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year. It does not mean that the event will occur once every 100 years. Let me explain. 

This type of statistical analysis is done by hydrologists — scientists who study the occurrence, distribution, and movement of water. They can predict how frequently a major precipitation event is likely to occur in a specific area.  

Hydrologists need at least 10 years of data to perform a frequency analysis in locations to predict how often a major precipitation event can cause significant flooding. The more historical data available over a longer period, the more accurate the prediction. 

Let’s look at a hypothetical river — the Pretend River — for which a hydrologist gathers historical rainfall patterns and stream data and finds that there is a 1 percent chance of a flood cresting 20 feet above its normal level each year at river mile 4.5.  A flood of that size, at that location on the Pretend River, is determined to be the “100-year flood” for that river.  Our hydrologist also determines that a flood cresting at 23 feet has a 0.5 percent chance of occurring each year, so that size flood is determined to be a “200-year flood,” while a flood cresting at 25 feet has a 0.2 percent chance of occurring each year and is determined to be a “500-year flood,” and so on.   

Just because a 100-year flood occurs doesn’t mean it won’t happen again for another 100 years. The risk of these different-sized events reoccurring remains the same every year, statistically. 

The reason why more “100-year floods” seem to be occurring is that many areas are seeing larger floods more frequently. Let’s say our hydrologist redoes her flood study ten years later and she now finds that there’s actually a 1 percent chance of a flood cresting at 25 feet every year. What was once a “500-year flood” is now a “100-year flood.”   

Why is this shift happening? One of the main reasons is global warming, which causes major precipitation events to occur more frequently because global warming causes the atmosphere to hold more moisture, which translates into more extreme rainstorms repeatedly producing record-breaking events. This is increasing the likelihood that a 100-year flood event can happen two years in a row.  

Take Houston, Texas, where the city experienced 500-year floods three years in a row. The first was produced on the Memorial Day holiday in 2015 and 2016, then again by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. 

Researchers from Princeton University published a paper in 2019 that determined 100-year floods could become annual occurrences in New England by the late 21^st century due to increased storm surge, coastal sea level rise, and more frequent tropical storms.  

So the question before us is not will a 100-year storms occur, the question is how can we mitigate the impacts to people, property, and our communities? Learn how protecting and restoring floodplains can help communities adapt to increasing flood risk.  

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However, a critical set of rules for how the river is managed is set to expire at the end of this year, and with warming temperatures, unpredictable precipitation, and a growing population across the Southwest all contributing to diminished river flows, the need for new guidelines is urgent. In times of crisis, the states and federal government have been forced to forge short-term, often emergency agreements to conserve water and prevent the system from crashing overall. And for the past two years, negotiators have been working to determine new guidelines for how states and the federal government will manage water shortages and reservoir levels after 2026. A final plan for the new guidelines must be in place by October 2026, when the new “water year” starts and the implementation of the current rules expires.

Last summer, in an attempt to encourage further collaboration and progress, the Department of the Interior set a deadline of November 11, 2025, for the states to come to an agreement. Despite deliberate, concerted effort right up to the deadline, the states have not reached consensus on a path forward. This stalemate is very concerning, as the communities, economies, and ecosystems that rely on the river need certainty around how the system will be managed as we prepare for a hotter, drier future. Management decisions must be grounded in sound science, investments in on-the-ground projects must be made, and efforts to build resilience in communities and ecosystems and expand conservation across the Basin must be pursued. Further, we must ensure that Tribal voices are included in decision-making and that any decisions prioritize the health of the river itself. When we don’t consider the needs of the river, everything else that depends upon it is at risk. 

So, where are we now? In a joint statement, the Basin states and the federal government committed to keep striving to reach a consensus, and we applaud their efforts and determination to keep at it. We strongly encourage the states to remain at the table in a spirit of collaboration and shared sacrifice, and the federal government to continue its leadership to hold the process together. 

Time is of the essence as the river can no longer sustain all the demands expected of it while we engage in inter-basin political squabbles. Like any complex negotiation, there must be a spirit of honest give and take, with the truest of intentions to find a holistic solution for the river. The river needs flexible tools, inspired solutions, and long-term investments to help communities, agricultural interests, and Tribes prepare for the impacts of drought while ensuring comprehensive water security. And ultimately, we must remember the river when it comes to forging these agreements and reducing risk to the system overall. There is no time to waste – we must act now to sustain the Colorado River.  

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Birthplace of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

The Flathead Wild and Scenic River includes the North, South, and Middle Forks that ultimately join and flow into the north end of Flathead Lake. A dam proposed on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River within the Bob Marshall Wilderness was the inspiration for the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, which preserves free-flowing rivers and their outstanding values. The three forks of the Flathead River were designated as Wild and Scenic in 1976.

Renowned as having the cleanest, clearest water in Montana and beyond, the three forks of the Flathead River are a recreation destination featuring whitewater rapids, scenic floating, a healthy native trout fishery, and unparalleled riverside camping. The Flathead River system is the backbone for a robust tourism economy: Fifteen percent of tourism dollars coming into Flathead County are spent by visitors on outfitters and guides.

Shared Responsibility for the Future

There’s no doubt Montanans and tourists alike love the Flathead River. However, the recent federal employee reductions in force, together with increasing river use, belie a delicate tension between the benefits of loving this river and the consequences of loving it too much to the point of overuse. Loving a place too much can look different in different places: hordes of RVs parked on beaches, long waits at boat ramps, overflowing parking lots, erosion on river banks or human waste. 

When impacts from river recreation reach a boiling point, we all share in the responsibility to protect river health. Regardless of staffing constraints, the Forest Service is required to act. Part of what’s needed is a transparent menu of actions–from staggering boat launch times to requiring human waste packout–that the agency can choose from to lessen recreation impacts while still providing access to the river.

Partners and outfitters can and do help as well. And they’re needed now more than ever, with more staffing reductions predicted across the federal government. Each year, Flathead Rivers Alliance mobilizes 300 volunteers contributing more than 1,700 volunteer hours, distributes 4,000+ reusable cleanup bags, and collects litter from 80 miles of river, manages volunteer river ambassadors to educate river visitors on how to Leave No Trace, conducts noxious weed pulls on 40 miles of river, and monitors water quality. This summer, river outfitters also helped to keep bathrooms and river access sites clean, work that was formerly done by the Forest Service. 

While we need more public-private partnerships to extend agency capacity, it’s critical that the Forest Service take proactive actions to prevent impacts from overcrowding, pollution in the form of trash and human waste, streambank erosion, and overfishing on the river, despite staffing shortages. 

How You Can Engage

You can join American Rivers and Flathead Rivers Alliance in asking the Forest Service to put the appropriate safeguards in place to ensure we love the Flathead River responsibly. Assuming the process remains on track, concerned community members will have an opportunity this winter to give the Forest Service feedback on their proposed management plan for the Flathead Wild and Scenic River. The plan should set science-based thresholds on river use, commit to monitoring river health and visitor experiences, and creatively forge partnerships to monitor and enforce needed changes to visitation timing, location, extent, and behaviors, now and in the future. Montana, and the nation, have only one Flathead River. As the new management plan for the river is crafted, we must put the health of the river first.

Follow announcements by the Flathead National Forest on the Flathead River Comprehensive River Management Planning Process, sign up to volunteer with Flathead Rivers Alliance, and contact Montana’s congressional delegation to share your concerns about impacts to the Flathead River from federal government workforce reductions. 

Bob Jordan serves as President of the Flathead Rivers Alliance Board of Directors and Sheena Pate serves as Executive Director. Lisa Ronald is an associate conservation director with American Rivers in Western Montana.

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Photographer David Moskowitz was able to help capture the story through the incredible images seen below.

Of all the signs that something is wrong—the curling leaves of stunted crops, the multiplying mats of river stargrass, the tense expressions of water managers—nothing tells the story of this drought like standing on the dry, hard bed of a drastically receded reservoir. 

Between 1910 and 1933, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built five reservoirs to harness water for Washington farms and towns in the 6,000-square-mile Yakima Basin. Together, Kachess, Keechelus, Cle Elum, Bumping, and Rimrock store about one million acre-feet of water.  

But not this year.  

By September 2025, capacity was a mere 20%. That’s the lowest level since recordkeeping began at the reservoirs in 1971, marking a historic water shortage.  

There simply wasn’t enough snowpack in the Central Cascades to fill the reservoirs in early 2025, leaving them with just 35% of the water they usually store at that time of year. Additionally, winter and spring rainfall was well below normal in the mountainous catchment in western Yakima County.  

On April 8, this reality led the Washington Department of Ecology to declare that the upper Yakima, lower Yakima, and Naches watersheds had officially crossed into their third consecutive year of a severe drought. 

What happens—or doesn’t happen—with stored water in the upper basin sends huge ripples downstream to the Yakima River and its tributaries.  

Irrigation districts that rely on human-made diversions in the river have been struggling to supply enough water to a $4.5-billion agricultural industry. Junior water rights holders, such as Roza Irrigation District and Kittitas Reclamation District, have strategized on the best ways to ration their reduced allotments—just 40% of the full amount they are generally entitled to—throughout the hot summer months of 2025.  

“We’re running the canals the lowest we ever have,” says Sage Park, policy manager for Roza. “Our growers are facing a very hard time, with bad water supplies on top of bad markets.”  

Some farms have gone out of business, confirms Jim Willard, owner of Willard Farms and Solstice Vineyards near Prosser, when we stop by. But he is hanging on. Willard established his farm in 1952, which means he has weathered the drought years of at least 1977, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2005, and 2015.  

How does the current year compare?  

“It’s another lousy drought,” Willard shrugs. “You know what you’ve got to do, the decisions you’ve got to make to keep the farm viable into the future.” 

“The fish are always in drought,” Joe Blodgett, manager of Yakama Nation Fisheries, says matter-of-factly as soon as we meet at the Wapato Dam on the lower Yakima River.  

The last significant drought in 2015 hit out-migrating juvenile salmon hard. Warm, shallow river water reduced their numbers from 1 million to 200,000. The fishery is still recovering—and now, another major drought. 

Joining Blodgett is his team of engineers and scientists, who are dedicated to restoring habitat, improving fish passage, and growing and releasing hatchery salmon, bull trout, and lamprey to bolster drastically declining numbers. 

The Yakama Nation’s connection to native fish species in the basin traces back thousands of years. The salmon trade was the first economy of the basin, and that link remains critical to the tribe’s identity and cultural and economic survival today.  

A little downstream, a small fishing scaffold protrudes into the river—a reminder of a bygone era long before the dam, and a symbol of the harvestable and sustainable future the Yakama Nation’s 10,000 members envision returning to.  

One day. After the drought breaks. 

Until then, the fisheries team is preparing with an ambitious plan to update the ailing Wapato Dam, built in 1917, and construct modern fish passage to improve survival rates.  

“Each species has a story to tell,” Blodgett says, smiling, as we part ways for today. 

Even in drought, the Yakama Nation and the irrigation districts, conservation organizations, and government agencies that make up the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan collaborate to increase flows of cool river water that fish need to survive.  

Maybe it’s truer to say especially in drought. 

That collaboration is unique in the West. It extends to a multitude of projects, many costing tens of millions of dollars, to modernize aging infrastructure, protect and restore fisheries and river habitat, improve water supply reliability, and store more ground and surface water. 

“This is a terrible drought,” says Brandon Parsons, American Rivers director of river restoration. “But we’d be in a lot worse shape if we hadn’t made years of prior investments in the river. We have to continue to work together and implement projects if we’re going to lessen the impacts of more droughts like this.”  

People in the basin know more frequent and severe droughts are on the horizon. They’re racing to ready the region and keep it habitable in a rapidly changing world. Families, fish and wildlife, business and agriculture—all life depends on the Yakima River’s ability to provide clean, cool, reliable water into the future. 

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But thanks to supporters like you, a nationwide groundswell of opposition convinced Congressional leadership to remove the public lands sell-off provision from the bill. A historic victory for public lands over an historic threat to them. Every voice can start an avalanche, and yours did just that.

The Author Wallace Stegner famously described America’s public lands, particularly national parks, as “America’s best idea.” Millions and millions of Americans across the political spectrum who hunt, fish, swim, paddle, play, and get their drinking water from public lands understand why. And they understand that selling off America’s backyard is to trade one of our best ideas for arguably the worst. It’s the difference between knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing, as Oscar Wilde once said. 

While it’s true that selling off public lands might benefit somebody somewhere, that person is not you. You’ll be the one footing the bill, and it’s a bill you can’t afford. It will come due the day comes when take your kid to your favorite fishing spot and see a high fence across the river, now polluted, with a sign from a multinational mining corporation that says “Property of X Corporation. Keep Out — No Trespassing.”

Montana Congressman and former Secretary of Interior Zinke, who led the charge in the U.S. House against the sale, summed up the importance of defending public lands best: “Our public lands is not a Republican or a Democrat issue. It’s an American issue, and we should use it in that context of being red, white and blue.”

And it is in that spirit that all Americans must remain vigilant about defending public lands and the values they provide. Because the attacks won’t stop coming. We can count on future backroom deals in Congress to dispossess the public or attempts to repeal foundational laws and policies that ensure our system of public lands management. Already foundational policies like the Public Lands Rule, the Roadless Rule, Public Lands Rule, and our system of National Monuments are under attack. Such policies are vital to ensuring balanced management of multiple uses for conservation and development.

Success in an effort like this has many authors but extra special thanks go out to the following members of Congress — Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), Sen. Martin Heinrich, (D-NM), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) , Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT),  Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR), and Rep. David Valadao (R-CA).

Defending public lands must always remain a red, white, and blue issue. Continuing to lend your voice is the only way to keep it that way. Don’t ever let them fence us in.

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A few short weeks ago, public lands and the rivers that flow through them were spared from a disastrous sell-off provision in a massive tax and spending bill. Victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat because of the nationwide bipartisan public outcry against the proposal from supporters like you. 

But what happens now? Will there be more backroom deals and bills in the future that attempt to sell them off? Will there be attempts to enable misuse of public lands — effectively bulldozing America’s backyard and playground of regular people like you and me? You bet. Such proposals are like weeds — you can count on them sprouting up again and again. This is because influential special interests, from multinational mining conglomerates to big polluters, are always looking for schemes to get rich quick. The only remedy is to remain on guard, ready to defend against these bad ideas whenever they re-emerge. Or is it? 

Defending existing protections is an essential part of protecting America’s rivers. Policies like the “Roadless Rule” protect critical conservation areas from new roads and timber clear-cutting. The pollution standards in the Clean Water Act keep harmful cancer-causing chemicals out of your drinking water. But these common-sense policies are under attack — whether it be by outright repeal, rescission, or by failure by agencies to do their job. And while a country must defend these protections, it shouldn’t stop us from seeking new ones. As the saying goes, “the best defense is a good offense.”   
 
Communities across the country, and across the political spectrum, are proactively taking steps to protect their rivers and the values they provide as sources of drinking water, and as cherished places to hunt, fish, float, swim, and a multitude of other uses.  

The many braids of a protected river   

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for how to protect a river. Effective protection mechanisms vary across the country. The diversity of mechanisms to protect rivers is emblematic of American ingenuity — where there is a will to protect a river, we always find a way.  

Here are a few examples to showcase the diversity of proactive river protection approaches happening right now across the country at the federal, state, and local levels. 

Federal

With so many threats occurring at the federal level to public lands and the agencies entrusted to manage them, one could be forgiven for assuming that positive proactive action to protect rivers would be put on hold. Not so. For example, Republican Congressman Vern Buchanan from Florida recently sponsored and passed the Little Manatee Wild and Scenic River Act to provide comprehensive and permanent legal protection for Florida’s cherished Little Manatee River. Florida Republican Congressman, Rep. W. Gregory Steube, and U.S. Senator Rick Scott each introduced another Wild and Scenic River bill to protect the Myakka River in Sarasota County, while Rep. Ryan Zinke just introduced a Wild and Scenic Bill to protect nearly 100 miles of the Gallatin and Madison rivers in Montana. And thanks to bipartisan action in Georgia, the Ocmulgee River could soon receive permanent protection as America’s newest national park and the first co-managed by a tribal nation in the region.

Many other examples exist, from coast to coast, but we often don’t hear much about them, because the good news of “offense” for rivers is all too often drowned out by noise from battles to defend existing protections. But the lesson is clear: ongoing bipartisan grassroots efforts to protect rivers remind us that protecting rivers is not a red or blue issue; it is a red, white, and blue issue.

State

States and municipalities across the country have passed their own zoning ordinances to create buffers that conserve land along rivers. Known as riparian areas, the trees and vegetation along the banks are the proverbial lungs of a river, allowing it to breathe and filter nutrients to maintain the healthy water quality we need to drink, fish, and swim safely. The State of New Jersey is just one example of a state taking action to protect rivers through riparian buffers.

The state passed legislation that created rules for establishing and maintaining riparian buffers statewide. As a result, the state of New Jersey has one of the highest rates of protected rivers in the country. Other states from Pennsylvania, to Minnesota, to the state of Washington have all proactively established their own systems for establishing and maintaining riparian buffers. 
 
Another recent inspiring example of new protections for rivers at the state level comes from Alabama. In response to a groundswell of local public support, a coalition of local grassroots organizations successfully petitioned the Alabama Environmental Management Commission to update and strengthen clean water standards across the state. The Commission voted 6-1 in favor of the petition. The change will result in limiting the maximum allowed amounts of 12 toxic and cancer-causing pollutants, including cyanide, hexachloroethane, and 4-trichlorobenzene, in rivers across the state. The change will undoubtedly save lives and improve public well-being.

Local

Recognizing the importance of clean, reliable, safe drinking water to the city’s future, Raleigh, North Carolina, developed its own comprehensive watershed protection plan to protect rivers that supply drinking water to that community.   

The protection plan involves land acquisition and conservation easements to protect private lands in the watershed. To date, the program has protected over 10,000 acres of land and 177 miles of streams. The protection program is self-sufficient, funded by a watershed protection fee of 11¢ per 100 cubic feet of water used.  For the average residential customer, this equates to a charge of about 60¢ per month on their water bill — a fee far lower than would be required to fund the extra water treatment costs if the protections were not in place. Not only does Raleigh’s watershed protection program provide water security and create spaces for parks and recreation, it also saves its customers money and avoids the need for new taxes.
 
Local utilities and municipalities spanning red and blue states across the country from Texas to Arkansas to Ohio and New York and many others are implementing similar programs to protect rivers supplying drinking water to that community.   

Any way you look at it, river protection pays off with a great return on investment for all of us. 

Taking initiative  

No matter where you live, your voice matters in keeping rivers healthy. It is essential to prevent backsliding from the protections we as a country worked so hard to achieve. We don’t want to see a return to the days when rivers like the Cuyahoga literally catch fire due to the level of pollution. Rivers are essential to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness to all Americans. People from all different backgrounds and affiliations understand this and are mobilizing to protect rivers across the country.

As the examples above show, this is because the people understand that taking action to protect rivers and the public lands they flow through is indeed a red, white, and blue issue — not a red or blue issue. So regardless of your political affiliation, regardless of where you live, and regardless of your background, please don’t let your eagle’s eye for defense keep you from going on offense to protect what matters to you.

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As a young adult embarking into the world of conservation through a lens of river protection, I have again been reminded of the importance of the Colorado River. This lifeline provides water to 40 million people and is a vital water source and spiritual foundation for 30 tribal nations throughout its vast footprint. In Colorado, it is a critical source of drinking water for Denver and most of the Front Range, including Fort Collins. It also sustains a vibrant agricultural heritage and economy across most of the state. Colorado is the primary headwaters state, delivering water for more than 1,450 miles from a tiny, high mountain rivulet, to raging whitewater in the Grand Canyon, to a salad bowl of America before crossing the border with Mexico. It sustains human life, recreation, and vital ecosystems in the region we all depend on. 

However, we have collectively taken the benefits of the Colorado River for granted. Warming temperatures, lingering drought, and a fast-growing population have exacerbated unsustainable water management practices that threaten the very rivers our nation depends on. We are in the grip of a severe water crisis, according to leading scientists. The flow of the Colorado River has declined 19% over the past two decades, and Lake Mead and Lake Powell have both reached critically low levels. The increased demand for water from the Southwestern U.S has taken more water than the river can sustain. We are at a crossroads, and it is critical that leaders across the Basin identify a clear path forward. 

This is a challenging time to lean into the world of conservation when so much remains unknown, and the road ahead seems uncertain. Nonetheless, hope springs eternal and provides a vision for a more sustainable and equitable future for protecting our vital rivers. In communities around the country, youth are stepping up and following in the footsteps of the river experts and advocates who have come before us. There is a growing community of voices, including young people, who have shown a deep commitment to rivers and protecting a future for all of us. 

Earlier this year, Fort Collins enacted the city’s Water Efficiency Plan (WEP) to reduce water use, enhance landscape resilience, and minimize the risk of future water shortages. Fort Collins is dependent on the Colorado River for most of its drinking water and is setting an important precedent by emphasizing a conservation-first approach while incorporating community feedback and values into its structure. This policy is an important step for our future because it highlights a proactive river protection approach that reflects the impacts of our changing world.  

I encourage you to get outside and reflect on the places or rivers that help you thrive, whether through recreation, appreciation for the drinking water they provide, or how they support an economy that benefits you and your community. Celebrate the folks around you who continuously fight for stronger water polices and healthy rivers. Support the passion and dedication of the younger generation who have banded together for the Colorado River, working to secure a future that sustains the life, culture, and communities we all depend on across the Southwest. 

Dani Trevino joined American Rivers as the Southeast Conservation Intern for the Summer of 2025.

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One of our nation’s landmark environmental laws that holds this delicate balance of nature together, the Endangered Species Act, is currently facing a new threat. A new rule from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would redefine what harming a species means under the Endangered Species Act by eliminating the protection against habitat destruction. This has been a longstanding protection that directly protects against one of the leading drivers of species extinction — habitat loss.  

If this rule moves forward, the essential places that numerous endangered species use for feeding, breeding, sheltering, and surviving will be at risk. The ecosystems upstream and downstream that those species support will also be at risk, as well as areas that we humans depend on for clean drinking water and many other benefits.  

Examples of rivers with endangered wildlife include:

• The Lower Missouri is home to piping plover, interior least tern, and pallid sturgeon
• The Puyallup River and South Fork of the Salmon River house Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout
• The Columbia and Snake Rivers are home to thirteen salmon and steelhead runs that are listed as endangered

Without the protection afforded by the Endangered Species Act, these rivers as crucial habitat may be at increased risk of unfettered and unmitigated development, improper water allocation, and other inappropriate and environmentally unsound uses. 

The current inclusion of what “harm” means in the Endangered Species Act has historically enabled dam removals that lead to restored habitat. The removal of the 160-year-old Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Maine was driven by the need to protect threatened and endangered species, including the shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic salmon. Since that river restoration project was completed in 1999, more than 2,000 other dams have been removed across the country for the benefit of wildlife and communities alike.

Attacks on habitat and wildlife protections are harmful, short-sighted, and out of step with what the American public wants. Abundant nature and wildlife are values that we all share and enjoy, no matter who we are or where we come from. Hunting and fishing are treasured traditions – not to mention a multi-million dollar industry – and depend on healthy rivers and ecosystems. The health and strength of our communities are directly related to the health of our rivers and waters. We must do more, not less, as a nation to protect our water wealth. 

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