New Mexico rivers are the most endangered in the country,
according to the annual report from American Rivers.
This is because of two U.S. Supreme Court rulings,
notably including Sackett
v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in which the court
stripped protections from the vast majority of waterways in the state.
Matt Rice, the southwest regional director of American
Rivers, explained that the court ruling “removed federal protections for some
smaller streams, rivers and wetlands throughout the United States.”
The court ruling scaled back waterways subject to
protections under the Clean Water Act, limiting them to perennial rivers and
wetlands that have a continuous surface connection with a river that flows
nearly all the time.
Related: Environmental advocacy groups
decry SCOTUS Clean Water Act ruling
That means a handful of New Mexico rivers such as the Rio
Grande, the San Juan and the Pecos are still protected under the Clean Water
Act, though they could themselves be impacted by some of the wetlands and
ephemeral waterways that lost their protections due to the court ruling.
A previous Supreme Court ruling from 2006, Rapanos v. United States stripped
federal protections from the waters in closed basins, which represent 20
percent of the land area in New Mexico.
In its endangered rivers report, American Rivers states
that the Rapanos and Sackett rulings “fly in the
face of established science and ignore the value that small streams and
wetlands have to their broader watersheds, communities, and economies,
particularly in places with dry climates like New Mexico.”
“While the threat to New Mexico’s rivers and streams and
wetlands is particularly acute, it’s also kind of an analogue for the rest of
the Southwest states and even the rest of the country,” Rice said.
New Mexico is unique for a few reasons. It is an arid
state where the majority of waters are ephemeral, meaning they don’t flow
year round. Additionally, it is one of three states that defers to the
federal government for permitting.
“Those states that have existing state programs at least
have some level of state protection, permitting protection from pollution
from development, things that harm rivers, streams and wetlands,” he said.
Because it does not have a state permitting program,
projects like wastewater treatment plants, mines, industrial sites and other
development projects may no longer be required to obtain permits intended to
protect waterways and wetlands.
While New Mexico doesn’t have that existing permitting
program, Rice said that residents and elected leaders have a deep commitment
to protect its waters. He said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed concern
following the Sackett decision
and has said she is committed to developing a state permitting program.
Related: Surface water permitting may
help fill gaps left after SCOTUS ruling
The New Mexico Environment Department has already taken
steps to establish a permitting program and the legislature appropriated
$7.6 million this year to help in that effort.
New Mexico also has a “Waters of the State” definition
that is more comprehensive than the federal “Waters of the United States”
definition. That means when a state program is established and funded, it
will be able to protect all of New Mexico’s waterways, including the isolated
wetlands and small streams, according to American Rivers.
Rice said the ranking is more than just a story about the
threat that waters face due to the Sackett decision,
it’s also a story of how states can respond.
“New Mexico is a great example of doing things the right
way,” he said.
Rice said, to the best of his knowledge, this is the
first time in the 40-year history of the most endangered rivers list that
American Rivers has chosen to list all the rivers in a single state as
endangered. He explained that the Sackett decision places 96 percent of the
rivers in New Mexico at risk.
The organization ranks endangered rivers based on various
criteria including whether a major decision that the public can help
influence in the coming year may impact the river. Additionally, American
Rivers looks at the significance of the river both to people and nature and
the magnitude of the threat that it faces.
According to American Rivers, the Sackett decision places
clean water resources at risk in New Mexico and could impact wildlife
habitat, recreation, agriculture and cultural resources.
Rice said American Rivers hopes the ranking demonstrates
the public support for New Mexico’s efforts to establish a permitting program
and keep it funded. He said establishing a clean water program in the state
is a big ordeal and that not everyone will necessarily be on board with the
efforts.
Tannis Fox, a senior attorney with the Western
Environmental Law Center, expressed gratitude for American Rivers decision to
rank New Mexico’s waters as the most endangered rivers in the country and
expressed hope that it could “further galvanize public, legislative, and
executive support for the state to fill the regulatory gap left in the wake
of Sackett.”
“Protecting New Mexico’s most precious resource–our
rivers, streams, and wetlands–is at a crossroad,” Fox said. “With the Supreme
Court’s dismantling of Clean Water Act protections, it is now up to states to
fully protect their waters.
Other rivers on the
list
Big Sunflower and Yazoo Rivers of
Mississippi
The two rivers are home to more than 450 species of
birds, fish and other wildlife. They are also in a migration corridor known
as the Mississippi Flyway. The area also boasts one of the last intact
bottomland hardwood forests in the country, but it is threatened by a project
known as Yazoo Backwater Pumps. The project dates back to 1941 and several
phases have already been completed. Those involved building levees,
floodgates and a channel. When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began looking
to construct the final piece—flood pumps—in 2008, the EPA rejected it. Then,
under President Donald Trump, that rejection was overridden and, in 2021, the
Corps resurrected the project.
The idea behind the pumps is to reduce flooding in
Mississippi’s South Delta, but American Rivers states that had the pumps been
in place in 2019, 83 percent of the Yazoo Backwater lands would still have
become inundated with water.
“Many local leaders and community members of color
recognize that the pumps are a false promise that will not protect them from
flooding,” the nonprofit states. “The Yazoo Pumps, that will likely cost
federal taxpayers more than $1.4 billion, would provide little protection to
homes in the sparsely populated area that the pumps are supposed to protect,
and could increase flooding in downstream communities.”
At the same time, the pumps would reduce the amount of
water and the amount of time that fish can spawn in an area that is already
seeing reductions in aquatic life.
The Duck River of Tennessee
The Duck River is considered one of the most biodiverse
rivers in the world, however development of some of the fastest growing
communities in the region is placing increasing strain on the water supplies.
Both population growth and industry growth are demanding more and more
water.
“Unsustainable overconsumption of water from
the Duck threatens to drain the river during periods of low flow and
drought,” American Rivers states. “This puts long-term water supply for local
communities and the river’s aquatic inhabitants at risk.”
The Santa Cruz River in Arizona and Sonora,
Mexico
The Santa Cruz River is a story of a comeback. Intensive
groundwater withdrawals led to the river becoming a seasonal body of water in
1913. Then, by 1940, those seasonal flows ceased. In the decades that
followed, wastewater discharged into the streambed created dangerous
conditions both for the ecosystem and human health.
Everything began to turn around in 2008 when the
wastewater treatment facilities began receiving upgrades. Now these
facilities provide about 35 miles of perennial flow.
But that doesn’t mean the Santa Cruz is out of danger.
“As an effluent-dominated river, the Santa Cruz is
reliant on consistent source water, and in Tucson, that water comes from the
import of Colorado River water,” American Rivers states.
As those water supplies dwindle due to climate change and overuse, so could
flows in the Santa Cruz.”
American Rivers is encouraging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to establish an urban wildlife refuge to protect the Santa Cruz
River.
The Little Pee Dee River of South Carolina
The Little Pee Dee River has not had dams installed and
remains both free-flowing and unaltered. That makes it an important resource
for inland fisheries. It boasts numerous streams, sloughs, oxbow lakes and
cypress gum swamps including remote swamplands where bald cypress trees grow
along with other hardwoods. The river’s surroundings also include sandhills
and bluffs that shelter breeding and migratory waterfowl.
A proposed interstate that would cross the river and cut
through the Little Pee Dee Heritage Preserve could destroy wetlands and
wildlife habitat while also impacting the river’s health and increasing the
risk of flooding in disadvantaged communities, according to American Rivers.
The Farmington River in Connecticut and
Massachusetts
A dam threatens the continued success of efforts to
protect the Farmington River as a world-class fishing and recreation
destination that provides a home for migratory fish, according to American
Rivers.
The Rainbow Dam is a small hydropower dam that dates back
to the early 20th century. American Rivers says a quirk of law means the
Rainbow Dam has no federal oversight. That lack of federal oversight and the
limited state jurisdiction meant that the dam’s fishway was both inadequate
and outdated and, before the fishway was shutdown in 2023, often resulted in
fish deaths. This essentially rendered more than 95 percent of the river’s
habitats inaccessible to animals like the sea lamprey and the river herring.
Additionally, American Rivers says the dam has led to algal blooms that
endanger human health.
The Trinity River of California
Up until 2000, the Central Valley Water Project diverted
90 percent of the Trinity River into the
Sacramento River. That changed with a Record of Decision that allows for
nearly half of the Trinity’s water to stay in its watershed, but it does not
provide what American Rivers describes as meaningful protections for cold
water reservoir storage. The state’s water right policies have not been
updated to recognize Indigenous water rights.
“Consequently, Biological Opinions enacted during the
Trump administration have led to reservoir depletion, rising river
temperatures, and other environmental impacts that put threatened coho salmon
and chinook salmon at risk,” American Rivers states. “Currently the Tribes
are also dealing with some of the lowest salmon returns in history and toxic
algae outbreaks, which impacts their cultural use, food security, wellness
and livelihoods.”
The Kobuk River of Alaska
A proposed road that would
require “thousands of crossings over streams, rivers and wetlands” could
impact water quality, damage permafrost and impact caribou migration,
according to American Rivers.
“It is hard to overestimate the impact of this proposed
road on the Kobuk River,” the nonprofit states. “The Kobuk River currently
has no road connections to the rest of the world, which would make the Ambler
Road the first to access what has remained a remote region up until now. The
land, fish, and wildlife in the Kobuk River watershed are as pristine as can
be found in the modern world.”
The Tijuana River in California and Mexico
Toxic waste and raw sewage have flowed into the river’s
watershed for more than a century, which has led to health problems for both
nearby residents and wildlife. The pollution impacts water, air and soil.
“When it rains, the high volume of water and pollution
overwhelms regional infrastructure and creates dangerous conditions for the
natural environment and local communities in the U.S. and Mexico,” American
Rivers states.
The Blackwater River of West Virginia
The Blackwater River is unique in part due to its amber
color, which comes from the tannins from spruce and hemlock trees. The river
also boasts whitewater rapids that draw rafting and kayaking enthusiasts to
the eight-mile-long Blackwater Canyon. The riparian corridor is home to the
endangered Cheat Mountain salamander as well as several bats and the rare
West Virginia northern flying squirrel.
A potential route for a major four-lane highway would cut
across all of the river’s headwater streams.
It would also cross the site of a former strip mine that
has not been reclaimed. The strip mine also has a honeycomb of mine tunnels
filled with acid mine drainage pollution beneath it.
