Pressures on rivers are increasing. Extreme weather, water shortages, mining, and pollution are placing new demands on waterways that were already concerningly under protected. According to our National Protected Rivers Assessment, nearly two-thirds of the nation’s 4.4 million miles of rivers lack any protection at all. The rivers we drink from, the rivers we recreate on, the rivers that support life in our country are at risk.

Our rivers need urgent action right now. Wild and Scenic River designations are a good place to start.

In 1968, Congress passed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, one of our nation’s most effective tools for protecting incredible rivers. This protection is a commonsense, bipartisan tool that lets communities protect their local water resources, while also allowing for the responsible use and management of the river corridor. Today, the Act protects more than 13,000 river miles, a small slice of what’s needed but a huge opportunity to build upon decades of successful conservation.

In this Congress, there are more than 15 Wild and Scenic River bills that have been introduced, from the Florida to Washington.  Each of these bills represents the opportunity for our elected leaders to demonstrate strong bipartisanship leadership to protect clean water.

Five Reasons to Pass Wild and Scenic River Protections in 2026

1.     River protection reflects the values Americans share

Voters across the country repeatedly expressed their support for the protection of clean water and wildlife habitat, and rivers are at the heart of these priorities. Communities rely on them for everything from clean drinking water to fishing, recreation, and tourism–even local identity (who lives in a “river city”?). Wild and Scenic River designations let Congress sustain these values head on. Safeguarding rivers that hold outstanding ecological, recreational, or cultural importance ensures lawmakers protect the landscapes people care about most, keeping them and their communities healthy, accessible, and economically vibrant. Wild and Scenic River designations preserve existing river character at a time when communities nationwide are facing increasing pressure from development.

2.     Wild and Scenic Rivers are supported on both sides of the aisle

These are just a few of the bill introductions demonstrating that protecting rivers and clean water is commonsense bipartisan policy and something that can unite us all.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced the Myakka Wild and Scenic River Act of 2025 in the Senate and House, respectively, to protect portions of the rain-fed Myakka River. Wild and Scenic River designation would protect this river’s manatees, American alligators, support multi-generational cattle ranching, and honor a 50-year legacy of protection by Sarasota County and the state of Florida.

Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) has emphasized the importance of conserving public lands and river corridors that are tied to Montana’s outdoor recreation, hunting and fishing heritage. Through his Greater Yellowstone Recreation Enhancement and Tourism Act, nearly a hundred miles of the Gallatin and Madison Rivers would be protected for generations of anglers to come.

Sen. Heinrich (D-NM) and Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) introduced the M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act to protect nearly 450 miles of the Gila and San Francisco Rivers and their tributaries as well as the $450 million they bring into the New Mexico economy annually.

3.     Wild and Scenic Rivers support local economies and outdoor recreation

Protected rivers are the backbone of many local economies. Communities have long benefited from the fishing, paddling, rafting, wildlife viewing, and tourism that healthy river systems crucially support. River-based tourism sustains outfitters, guides, retail stores, hotels, breweries, restaurants, and other local businesses that benefit from outdoor recreation. Wild and Scenic River designations help guarantee that the natural character of rivers stay intact, which is essential for attracting visitors and their tourism dollars.

4.     River protections allow for continued responsible land management

River protection and land stewardship go hand-in-hand. River corridors protected by Wild and Scenic River designations are compatible with forest management, including wildfire mitigation efforts. Each river has a management plan developed to ensure that conservation goals are balanced with responsible stewardship of the river’s surrounding lands. This collaborative approach allows communities and land managers to protect river values while also achieving fuels reduction, forest health, recreation, and timber objectives.

5.     Wild and Scenic Rivers are built on community-driven conservation

Wild and Scenic River designations always begin with local communities. Local governments, private landowners, tribes, conservation groups, state agencies, local businesses, and passionate community members work together for years to study rivers, develop their management plans, and elevate their importance to elected officials. This teamwork builds support for river protection before, during, and after legislation is introduced in Congress. This community-driven model helps make certain that river protections reflect the needs of the people who actually live closest to them.

Protecting Rivers is a Practical Step Forward

Americans nationwide are navigating complex environmental challenges, including drought and wildfire. As pressures on water systems intensify, communities need solutions that are both effective and broadly supported. Protecting rivers through the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act provides that path forward.

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act safeguards clean water and protects wildlife habitat. It also encourages the outdoor traditions that define many communities in the United States. They also demonstrate that conservation can succeed when local collaboration and bipartisan leaders come together backed by consistent support from the public.

In 2026, Congress has a clear opportunity to act. During Wild and Scenic Rivers Hill Week last week, lawmakers heard directly from communities and partners across the country about the importance of protecting free-flowing rivers. Advancing new Wild and Scenic River designations now would build on a proven legacy of bipartisan conservation while ensuring the rivers communities depend on continue to flow freely for generations to come.

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Natalie Diaz, Pulitzer Prize winning author of “Postcolonial Love Poem” said it best:  

“Every story is a story of water”

And so many stories of water, are stories of rivers. 

This is a tiny sampling and nod to some of the inspiring women writers of those stories:

RACHEL CARSON (1907-1946) 

In 1962, marine biologist and writer Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, exposing the devastating impacts of DDT to humans and ecosystems alike. Though chemical companies spent inordinate sums trying to delegitimize her work – often using her identity as a woman as part of their claims –the heart at the core of Carson’s observations and investigations gave her impeccable research wings and resulted directly in the formation of the EPA, and landmark legislation like the Clean Water Act. 

Though it is perhaps, cliché, it is impossible (at least for me) to think about women working on river and waters without acknowledging Carson’s work. Her approach to environmentalism, science, love and observation is lucid, lyrical, detailed and unflinching.

And Carson’s work is, of course, gravely under threat and along with it, the health of the rivers we rely on for sustenance and sanity.  

“The most alarming of all man’s assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials” – Rachel Carson 

READ: Silent Spring

Learn more about threats to the Clean Water Act and its definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS)

ANN ZWINGER (1925-2014) 

Not unlike Carson, Zwinger believed that to witness a place – to come to know it in some way – was to love it, and that if you could see the intricate, interconnected, miraculous way rivers and their ecosystem work, you would want to protect them. A student of art history, Zwinger authored more than 20 books on natural history, most focused on the West. Her words were often accompanied by her illustrations. In her 1972 book, Run, River, Run, for which Zwinger was awarded the 1976 John Burroughs Award for Nature Writing, Zwinger instills a conservation ethos simply by documenting what was lost when the Flaming Gorge Dam strangled the Green River’s flow.   

Bio of Ann Zwinger in Orion

ELLEN MELOY (1946-2004) 

In many ways, Ellen Meloy carried on the tradition of observation. Meloy wrote from experience, which is to say, from the grit of the deserts and cool of the rivers she spent time observing and relishing and rendered what she witnessed on the page in a manner that often acted as an invitation. Her first book, Raven’s Exile: A Season on the Green River, is a compilation of eight years of observations from trips down the Green River and arguably a seminal text for anyone reliant on the Green for their lives, livelihoods or sanity. Through her observations and lyric passages, Meloy engaged a reader in something more like a relationship than a litany of facts, and through that relationship an ethos of conservation. Meloy also didn’t shy away from the devastation of writing about places lost and treated the loss like that of any relative.  

In a later book, The Anthropology of Turquoise: Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone and Sky, she wrote: “I write a book about a river and cannot tell if it is a love story or an obituary or both.”    

Ellen Meloy writers fund  

Learn more about the Green River and threats it faces

DR. ELZADA CLOVER AND LOIS JOTTER

Contemporary writer Melissa Sevigny’s latest book Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon features the under celebrated Dr. Elzada Clover and her graduation student, Lois Jotter. At the time of their 1938 trip down the Canyon on a commercial trip run by Norman Nevills, the women faced scrutiny from the press about whether they could survive at all (giant eye roll). They were rare women in a burgeoning field of biology, rarer still to be doing the remote field work, rarest most perhaps to be studying the spined and stinging species they were. Clover, by then a professor at the University of Michigan, was the senior botanist on the trip. As the first white women to raft the Colorado River, Clover and Jotter collected hundreds of plant species and are credited with conducting the first systematic plant survey of the Grand Canyon’s river corridor. Published in 1944, their work was titled “Floristic Studies in the Canyon of the Colorado and Tributaries” and provides the foundation for the research that, to this day, many women lead in the Canyon.  

For her part, the contemporary author of the book Melissa Sevigny has written extensively about the West. In her book Mythical River, Sevigny writes about the rivers that make the West both what it is and can never be. Her articles about the natural landscapes and waterways of the West appear in Orion, High Country News, Arizona Highways, and The New York Times.  

Melissa Sevigny author page

FIERCE COUNTRY: The Untold Story of Three Women Who Ignited America’s Love for the Wild (featuring Georgie White), Heather Hansman  

If Clover and Jotter can be credited with laying the foundation of botanical knowledge and research in the Canyon, Georgie White deserves credit for innovating and crafting the burgeoning river-running industry in the Grand Canyon, starting her own company in 1953 and shuttling thousands of humans down the river during the course of her storied career. Georgie is legendary in the Canyon, her name rendered through late night skinny dips, leopard print anything, and a fierce commitment to the place where she found home after the tragic death of her daughter. Though Georgie didn’t write a book herself, her stories are chronicled in a number of anthologies, and in a biography by Richard Westwood. Most recently, another celebrated writer of the West – Heather Hansman – includes Georgie’s story in her latest book, Fierce Country: The Untold Story of Three Women Who Ignited American’s Love for the Wild alongside Dolores LaChapelle and Anne LaBastille.  

In Hansman’s first book, Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West, she chronicles her own journey down the Green River and provides a critical update and new insights into the rapid aridification and changing environment that dictates the fate of the West’s rivers.  

Heather Hansman Author Page

There are so many more; so many women whose words (spoken and written) and whose fierce, attentive observation and care for rivers and all that they provide offers the blueprint for their conservation today.

In another of her poem’s, Natalie Diaz writes.  

At the end of the poem, Diaz asks:  

Read the full poem HERE

Read works by Natalie Diaz HERE

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Despite decades of warnings and years of negotiations, there remains no clear blueprint for how the West can live with less water. That future is no longer hypothetical—it is already here.

We often talk about the Colorado River and drought in ways that can feel removed, impersonal, abstract, and buried in jargon. But beneath the stories, there are real lives, livelihoods, ecosystems, and traditions that make the region what it is, and that are very much at stake. 

On March 3, for example, the US Drought Monitor released their latest report, revealing that “snow water equivalent” is less than 70% of normal across the Central Rockies, and less than 50% in the Four Corners. 

Snow water equivalent is essentially how the water in the snow translates to real, wet water – the kind rivers and people rely on. By some accounts, the prediction for this year’s total is now on par with – and potentially worse than – 2002, which previously held the record for one of the worst water years on the Colorado River. For those who live in the region, the catastrophic wildfires of 2002 are not abstract: the Hayman fire burned for over a month, killed six people, destroyed more than 600 homes, and amounted to estimates of $42 million worth in damages. That same year, Arizona experienced the Rodeo-Chediski fire, which burned nearly half a million acres.

But it isn’t just one fire in one year – throughout the Southwest and in California, regions are experiencing some of the largest, most catastrophic wildfires in history, and they’re occurring much more frequently.

Fires are just one way that the consequences of this hydrology are real.

Bad water years are felt by farmers and ranchers crunching the numbers and being forced to make impossible decisions about land, crops, and cattle.

They are felt by entire communities and businesses facing water cutbacks and rising energy costs.

They are felt by rivers warming beyond what fish and wildlife can withstand and by forests burning hotter and longer.

They are felt most by families who can least afford the inevitable lack of access to fresh water, threats of wildfires, and energy rate hikes.

It’s not one dry year that has placed the Colorado River and all who rely on it in peril; it’s decades of drought amplified by warming temperatures and a system still adjusting, or refusing to adjust, to the reality of a smaller river. The sponge is wrung dry, and we’re a long way from re-saturation. A “Miracle May” might be welcome, but it cannot erase two decades of declining flows and depleted reservoirs to save us at this point.

Aquifers are drained.

Soils are thirsty, trees are thirsty, animals are thirsty.

And we are thirsty and grow thirstier – continuing to promise water in a region that’s long been in debt.

We cannot stop the drought or the wildfires. We cannot get more water into Lake Powell than Mother Nature will provide, without significant impacts to communities and economies.  

The one thing we do have control over is how we respond. Though there are variables we can’t predict, we can control our collective actions. The reality is less water, and we must start there. With collaboration, transparency, and reliable funding, the West that is grounded in reality and capable of proactively managing scarcity rather than through litigation and denial. The opportunity to manage the river with the river itself at the core of considerations is now. And any leadership, any blueprint for the future must center the fact that without a healthy river, we can’t have healthy communities, economies, or ecosystems.

But that future is contingent upon leadership, and developing and implementing a clear, transparent, and responsive blueprint through the new interim guidelines for Colorado River management. The guidelines should, at a minimum, address the following:

• If water managers consider emergency releases from upper basin reservoirs (such as Flaming Gorge, Blue Mesa, or Navajo) to move water into Lake Powell, how are they ensuring that each drop of water used is benefiting as many values as possible?
• How will reservoir operations at Lake Powell and Lake Mead be managed to preserve hydropower reliability while maintaining flows through the Grand Canyon, and what are the implications for energy prices and the availability of power?
• Are they considering testing the bypass tubes (which were resurfaced after damage from the 2022 simulated flood in the Grand Canyon) to see if water could be directed into the Canyon via those tubes? What do we know about the constraints on that system?
• The official elevation for the minimum power pool at Glen Canyon Dam (the point at which the dam can no longer generate hydropower) is 3,490 ft, but as the elevation declines (currently sitting at 3,530), at what point do whirlpools begin to form, sucking air into the turbines, and forcing Reclamation to shut down the turbines? In other words, can the models tell us when cavitation* will force a shutdown?
• How will flows through Glen Canyon dam be maintained into Grand Canyon, and what actions could be enacted to preserve fish and wildlife (and curtail invasive fish like smallmouth bass) and the rafting economy that depends on the flows as these lake levels decline?
• As reductions to Colorado River supplies continue to affect Central Arizona Project (a lifeline to urban centers like Phoenix and Tucson) deliveries, how will cities, tribes, and agriculture adapt, and what investments will be needed to maintain reliable supplies? What should water users anticipate? Is there a risk of the CAP going dry?

These questions are not theoretical. The current operating rules for the Colorado River expire in 2026, and the basin states and federal government are debating the next framework for managing a smaller river. The choices made in the coming months will shape how the West lives with less water for decades to come.

In short, it is both imminent and imperative that state and federal leadership plans for and communicate a response to a (very likely) severe shortage scenario. As John Fleck emphasized in his recent blog, if that planning is already happening, leaders need to “tell us what they’re going to do”.

If planning isn’t underway, the moment to step up to avoid certain catastrophe and ensure a water-secure future is now.

With forethought, collaboration, planning, and clarity, we can do more with less. But with the uncertainty we’re currently experiencing, short-term crisis response that’s poorly communicated, lacks leadership, and is temporary in nature will only result in greater losses of life and livelihoods.

The Colorado River will continue to shape the future of the West. The question is whether we confront reality now—with planning, cooperation, and investment—or continue reacting to crisis. Leadership today will determine which future we inherit. We urge, and we’re not above pleading, leaders to guide us into a future where the river flows, and our realities ebb and flow with it, instead of at its expense.

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Ackerson Meadow 

The landmark restoration at Ackerson Meadow finished in the summer of 2025, kick-starting the recovery of a meadow that had been dewatered and degraded the meadow for the last century. Now we see the return of native meadow plants like the slender-stemmed monkeyflower and wildlife like the Great Gray Owl and Northwestern pond turtle. This was the largest wetland restoration in the history of Yosemite National Park, and a powerful collaboration between American Rivers, National Park Service, US Forest Service, Yosemite Conservancy, public lands grazers, and many funders.  Stay tuned for a new video about the project and its ongoing development! 

Confluence Meadow 

The restoration at Confluence Meadow nears completion!. By reconnecting Pine Creek and Little Harvey Creek to their meadows, we can reduce erosion and allow water to spread and soak back into the landscape to ensure more water flows into Pine Creek rather than draining out through incised channels. A healthy Pine Creek provides important spawning habitat for Eagle Lake Rainbow Trout, a species found only in the Eagle Lake watershed. Our monitoring shows groundwater staying closer to the surface for longer, helping wet meadow habitat recover and stay green later into the season. And the impacts go further! Native vegetation has re-established across treated areas, stabilizing soils and improving habitat for wildlife, while ongoing work on the site continues to strengthen the meadow’s long-term resilience. 

Grouse Meadow 

We completed restoration at Grouse Meadow in the West Walker River watershed this past July 2025, replacing a culvert with a low-water crossing to prevent degradation, building beaver dam analogs in an adjacent tributary, and filling and stabilizing several headcuts throughout the meadow. Now we will monitor the site and see how vegetation responds to restoration!  

Pickel Meadow 

At Pickel Meadow, also in the West Walker River watershed, we recently received nearly $5M from the CA Wildlife Conservation Board to restore this 450-acre meadow. This effort, in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the US Forest Service (Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest) will impact the ecology of this critical habitat and expand recreational opportunities, reconnecting a 3.2-mile section of the West Walker River to its historic alluvial fan, restore over 250 acres of wet meadow habitat, and enhance habitat through revegetation and the installation of in-stream features. It will also improve a water diversion to prevent fish entrapment, improve water supply for local grazing, protect a spring with wildlife-friendly fencing, and create a parking lot and trail improvements. And we are set to begin construction in summer 2026!  

Lower Sardine Meadow

Sometimes restoration work needs follow-up. Working with the US Forest Service Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, American Rivers restored Lower Sardine back in 2019, but our site monitoring suggested that small tweaks were needed. We have adaptive management planned for fall 2026 to ensure the success of the restoration. We’ll be placing wood and rock in places where channel incision is starting to form, revegetating a former parking lot, enhancing a public trail, and removing small lodgepole pines that are encroaching on the meadow. We can protect this precious meadow for future generations.  

Forni Meadow Complex 

In 2025, the California headwaters team, alongside the US Forest Service Eldorado National Forest, was in the thick of planning for restoration at the Forni Meadow Complex. The Complex is made up of a group of three meadows at the headwaters of the South Fork American River in the Eldorado National Forest. We are monitoring the impacts of restoration by photographing the site over time and measuring groundwater levels to ensure our collaborative work stands the test of time. This project builds on our longstanding partnership with the Eldorado National Forest, where we have partnered to complete two other projects as part of ENF’s first meadow restoration efforts, as well as conducting the Caldor Fire meadow assessment and prioritization effort, which identified the Forni Meadow Complex as a high priority for restoration. This year, we will be busy getting ready to start the construction phase of the project, with on-the-ground restoration anticipated to begin later this summer.  

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In 2025, the United States removed 100 dams. One hundred outdated, often crumbling, and frequently dangerous structures were pulled from our waterways across 30 states. In their wake, more than 4,893 miles of river were reconnected — the most upstream miles ever reconnected in a single year in the U.S. through dam removal. In these rivers, water is flowing freely again for the first time in decades, sometimes centuries.

That’s not just a conservation win. That’s a transformation.

There have now been 2,350 documented dam removals in the U.S. since 1912.

So why are we removing dams, exactly?

You might be wondering: weren’t dams built for a reason? Yes, but most of those reasons are outdated, much like these dams. The U.S. has more than 500,000 dams in its national inventory, and a staggering number of them are simply sitting there: no longer generating power, no longer supplying water, no longer serving any practical purpose. What they are doing is blocking fish from reaching spawning habitat, warming water in stagnant reservoirs, threatening public safety, and accelerating flooding risks during storms.

Removing a dam is one of the fastest and most effective ways to bring a river back to life. Within days of removal, bugs return. Within weeks, native fish are swimming reaches they haven’t accessed in generations. The whole watershed starts breathing again.

American Rivers has a bold goal: remove 30,000 dams by 2050. With 2,350 removals logged since 1912 — and momentum clearly building — that mission feels more achievable than ever.

The most common reason cited for removal? Ecology — cited in 59 of the 100 projects last year. Dilapidated or failing structures came in second (37 projects), followed by safety concerns (20). It’s a telling breakdown: communities aren’t just tearing out dams because they’re falling apart. They’re doing it because they understand that living river systems depend on free-flowing water to thrive.

Where are Dams Coming Out?

Pennsylvania continues to lead the nation in dam removals, with 14 dams removed in 2025, for a total of 433 dams removed since 1912. Pennsylvania has been a historical leader in dam removal and river restoration, its momentum illustrating an acknowledgment of state agency leadership in prioritizing the removal of obsolete and failing infrastructure.

The Northeast region really showed up in 2025 as well— Massachusetts removed 11 dams, and Vermont removed nine! Massachusetts and Vermont learned valuable lessons after significant flooding in their states highlighted the need to address failing dams and undersized road-stream crossings.

In particular, Massachusetts’ Division of Ecological Restoration has provided much-needed funding and technical support to restore rivers, streams, and wetlands. Their effort is further supported by the Dam and Seawall Repair or Removal Program, which provides funding for critical water resource projects and is a good model for other states. Vermont’s momentum can, in part, be attributed to first-of-its-kind legislation— the Flood Safety Act— passed by the state in 2024. The law made significant investments in protecting people from the flood risk that aging dams present while also restoring rivers and community health.

That’s not all! The Southeast alone reconnected 2,424 upstream river miles in 2025. The Great Lakes and Central regions added more than 1,446 miles. These numbers represent real habitat — real spawning grounds, real migration corridors, real flood buffers — returned to function as nature intended. The record reconnection of upstream river miles in 2025 was driven by major river stretches in the Great Lakes and Southeast regions from Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. Communities across the nation are showing up in support of healthy rivers and safer river corridors.

In Iowa, the Forest City Dam came down on the Winnebago River, reconnecting 99 upstream miles for fish passage and opening up wetland spawning habitat for northern pike. It also reduced flood risk to a local park — a reminder that dam removal benefits extend well beyond the water itself.

In Delaware, the historic DuPont Experimental Station Dam on the Brandywine River was removed as part of a multi-dam effort. After a previous removal upstream in 2019, American shad were spotted spawning in the Brandywine in Wilmington for the first time in over a century. These projects are literally bringing back fish that had not been seen in living memory.

In Virginia, the Georges Mill Dam came out of the South Mayo River. Seven people had drowned at that site over the years. Its removal didn’t just improve passage for the endangered orangefin madtom — it eliminated a genuine hazard that had cost human lives.

In Maine, the Mill Pond Dam removal on the Sabattus River was part of a broader effort to open access to 2,429 acres of spawning habitat and 75 miles of stream for sea-run fish. The potential? An annual run of more than one million adult alewives — a keystone species that feeds everything from eagles to whales.

In California, the Jenny Creek Diversion Dam near the Klamath River was removed by Trout Unlimited and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, with the Yurok Tribe and Shasta Indian Nation participating in cleanup and cultural monitoring. It’s a powerful example of how dam removal can be an act of cultural restoration just as much as an ecological one.

In Utah, Zion National Park’s Temple of Sinawava Dam came down as part of a program to restore the Virgin River — a Wild and Scenic River — for species like the Virgin River chub and woundfin, fish that once thrived there and are now fighting for survival.

What This Means for the Future

Dam removal isn’t just an environmental story — it’s a community story. It’s about cities in Indiana removing hazardous low head dams that were threatening kayakers. It’s about a college in Vermont turning a dam removal into a living classroom for students. It’s about Tribal Nations in California and the Pacific Northwest reclaiming cultural practices tied to salmon runs that were nearly wiped out.

The goal of 30,000 dam removals by 2050 is ambitious. But 2025’s 100 dams down is proof that when communities, agencies, conservation groups, and tribal nations work together, rivers can come back — and they can come back fast.

One hundred dams. Nearly five thousand miles of river, flowing free again. Not bad for a single year.

If you want to learn more about some of the great projects completed in 2025, check out our annual summary.

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A 10,000-year-old wetland in Roxhill Park known as the Roxhill Bog is one of the few surviving fragments of a much larger peat bog ecosystem that once flourished in the Northwest. The 5.3-acre wetland is the headwaters of Longfellow Creek, which travels for about four miles before entering the Duwamish River, the only naturally flowing river that still runs through Seattle, and one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® in 2019. 

Peat bogs occur in cool, wet environments and are exceedingly rare, covering only 3% of the Earth’s land. They form over millennia from the accumulation of dead plant material and act like sponges, holding water and slowly releasing it over time. This provides stable flows and cooler water to downstream river systems during drier summer months and helps to retain water when it floods.  

Peat bogs filter water pollutants and provide a home for many unique plants and animals, including sphagnum moss, bog laurel, Labrador tea, Makah butterflies, and bog lemmings. They also contribute outsized benefits to the world’s climate, storing about 30% of land carbon. 

Over time, peat bogs in Seattle were drained, filled, and paved over by urban development. The remaining patch in Roxhill Park slowly dried up due to groundwater diversions, which impaired water quality, destroyed downstream salmon habitat, and limited safe public access to open recreational spaces.  

“One of my colleagues at Seattle Public Utilities put it best — the bathtub is broken, the natural processes that once allowed water to remain onsite are no longer working,” said Danielle Devier, senior urban ecology analyst with Seattle Parks and Recreation. “Repairing the broken bathtub is one of the best ways to rewet the bog.”  

Members of the surrounding community in West Seattle were alarmed at what was happening in their local park. They came together in 1999 to advocate for the restoration of the Roxhill Bog to help recover lost habitat and ecosystem functions. 

“This is the last of Seattle’s original 32 peat wetlands, located within an urban area of low-income, diverse communities where this natural area is their sole connection to nature,” explained Sharon Leishman, executive director of the Duwamish Alive Coalition. 

“People gather here to experience the ethereal bloom of the fawn lily, hear chorus frogs at twilight, and see the magic of dragonflies, but this special ecosystem is being lost.  

The power of community, which started with two neighbors, has grown into a broad, collaborative effort of persistence, patience, and passion. We are all stewards of these lands and waters. We are all connected.” 

With support and funding from the Seattle Parks Foundation, King County Wastewater Treatment Division, the Rose Foundation, and the Cox Foundation, plans for the bog’s restoration eventually began to form. American Rivers joined the effort in 2019, serving as project manager for engineering and construction.  

Finally, in late November 2025, construction contractors with Rodarte Construction, Inc., excavated earth and installed 15-foot-high pilings into the Roxhill peat. The pilings form an underground wall for 300 feet along the park’s trails. The wall is designed to slow the flow of groundwater and raise water levels to rehydrate the degraded peat wetland. 

Just like the day construction started, rain drizzled down as contractors placed the last shovel of gravel. Nature responded almost immediately. By mid-December, groundwater had risen three feet, with water pooling at the surface of the bog. This showed the engineering design of the groundwater block was working well and starting to rehydrate the peat bog. 

“Completing this first phase of the bog’s restoration provides a model for how urban areas across the country can restore wetland functions and improve the quantity and quality of water for people, fish, and wildlife,” said Sarah Dyrdahl, Northwest regional director for American Rivers. “In addition to the West Seattle community, we hope salmon in the downstream Duwamish will be the big winners of this work.” 

The bog’s water level will be monitored over the coming years to help inform additional restoration, including work by Seattle Public Utilities to reroute stormwater and by Seattle Parks and Recreation, which may install more blocks to increase groundwater retention. 

A few days after construction, community volunteers planted native species in the project area to jumpstart the revitalization of the wetland ecosystem. Local organizations and project partners, such as the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, plan to host more nature walks, art activities, and class field trips centered on peat bog ecology. They are also facilitating trash pick-up events in collaboration with the Green Seattle Partnership.  

“It’s been an honor to be part of the restoration of Roxhill Bog and to work alongside the community in caring for this important ecosystem,” said Caroline Borsenik, environmental programs director with the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association. “I’m excited to see Roxhill continue to grow as a place where restoration and community come together, and where people can connect with, celebrate, and enjoy this special place.”  

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The Fiscal Year 2026 agreement reflects a compromise between the House and the Senate. The enacted legislation differs drastically from the White House budget request, which called for cuts in funding and staff to critical river programs. The new agreement maintains annual funding for EPA, NOAA, NPS, USFWS, and many other agencies that manage river programs, infrastructure, wetlands and watersheds, and implement habitat conservation.

While there is still work to be done, we wanted to share 5 Key wins for rivers that came from the Fiscal Year 2026 Agreement.

Key Wins for Rivers: 

1. Prioritized place-based restoration initiatives 

 The Interior bill preserves the EPA’s State Revolving Funds, which provide states and Tribes opportunities to modernize upgrades to water infrastructure. It also provides increased funds to the Chesapeake Bay Program at $96 million, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $369 million, and the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund at nearly $11.8 million. These increases reinforce a clear preference for locally led science, conservation, and restoration efforts. 

2. Preserved infrastructure repairs, fish passage, and habitat conservation 

The Commerce, Justice, and Science bill includes $65 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, and nearly $58 million for NOAA’s Community- Based Programs. The National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) received $7.2 million under the Interior appropriations bill. Together, these programs support resource management and the removal of unsafe or obsolete aquatic barriers. Even modest increases promote a shared goal: improve recreational fishing, strengthen regional economies, and balance habitat conservation. 

3. Sustained investments for nature-based solutions 

The Energy and Water bill sustains $6 million for the Cooperative Watershed Management Program (CWMP). The CWMP helps communities form watershed groups to plan and implement projects that improve watershed health and fish and wildlife habitat. An example of this being implemented is the Big Thompson Watershed Coalition in northern Colorado, which used CWMP funding to build local capacity and conduct restoration planning while identifying watershed data gaps to support potential project designs in the future. Additionally, the bill increases funding to the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund to $65.3 million and also provides $7.5 million for the Army Corps’ Engineering with Nature. 

4. Continued focus on Wild and Scenic Rivers and healthy ecosystems 

To maintain strong local-state-federal partnerships, the Interior bill provides nearly $5.7 million for the National Park Service’s Partnership Wild and Scenic Program. The funding ensures the approved conservation plans of these rivers will continue to be effectively and efficiently implemented. This includes the Kissimmee and Little Manatee Rivers, located in Florida, which are under study now, demonstrating growing demand for Wild and Scenic River designations. 

5. Progress for flood relief across rural communities  

Aligned with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the agriculture appropriations bill provides $50 million to the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations program, which supports projects that protect and restore watersheds. Language in the bill report directs funds for increased fish and wildlife habitat  and improvements to in-stream river flows. An additional $3 million goes to the Watershed Rehabilitation (REHAB) program to help address aging, unsafe dams. 

Costly Concerns 

These wins come at a time when our nation is facing a historic Western water crisis, major flooding in Washington and West Virginia, and crumbling sewer infrastructure in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. Cuts across the federal agencies are going to be felt for years to come. While imperfect, this is a straightforward package that sustains several priority river, water, conservation, and regional ecosystem programs. Due to the Senate’s bipartisan leadership, Congress rejected the most devastating cuts proposed by the White House. 

What’s Next? 

American Rivers will work with agencies and communities to ensure these funding provisions are interpreted and implemented successfully in ways that support river health and grow our economy. These decisions impact how projects are carried out on the water.  

At the same time, we’re gearing up for the Fiscal Year 2027 appropriations cycle, which will be another challenging year due to ongoing constraints surrounding staffing and capacity across the federal agencies.

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Dam removal is one of the most powerful tools we have to restore the health of rivers. A free-flowing river supports biodiversity, clean water supplies, and recreation. Sadly, the state of North Carolina has an astonishing 28,000 inventoried dams on its landscape, and many of them are obsolete. Flowing through the heart of Ramseur, the Deep River is one of two major tributaries to the Cape Fear River, together comprising the Cape Fear River Basin, which provides drinking water to nearly a quarter of a million people. This major river is severely fragmented by several major dams that disrupt its natural flow and block species movement. 

The Ramseur Dam, originally constructed in the early 1900s to power a sawmill and later the Columbia Manufacturing Company, is one such structure. It no longer produces hydropower or supports manufacturing. Built largely of river rock, time has taken its toll: the gates are broken, water seeps through the structure, and rebar juts out in places.  

With more than half a million dams obstructing rivers across the country, this isn’t a scenario unique to North Carolina, but it is a hazard felt deeply by the residents of our state. Storms now known as household names—Helene, Florence, and Matthew—reveal how aging infrastructure combined with extreme weather endangers people, wildlife, and our clean water supply. Dams that no longer serve a purpose are creating unsafe conditions, needlessly degrading water quality, and burdening city leaders and private owners with liability risks should they fail in the next major storm or from sheer old age. 

Dam removal confronts these immense challenges with a solution – reconnecting our rivers. Removing a dam can be a big step for a town. A river restoration project requires vision, courage, and partnership. The Ramseur dam removal is an act of optimism – local leaders asking: how can we improve this amazing resource for both people and nature? The leadership and community of Ramseur chose to envision a place where children can safely wade into the cool waters, anglers fish for native species, and the river flows freely, tumbling over rocks as it moves downstream. 

With respect and full understanding of the benefits they once served, more and more outdated dams are being removed to advance a future of ecological restoration, expanded recreation, economic opportunity, and community connection. Local leaders in Ramseur have embraced a future provided by a free-flowing river.

Plans for a state trail along the Deep River envision a continuous walking trail, termed greenway, winding alongside the river and a designated paddle trail, or blueway, stretching the length of the Deep River, reconnecting communities to the water and to each other. New trailheads and river access points tied directly to the restoration are designed to bring people back to the river—not as a backdrop, but as a centerpiece of community life. 

While Ramseur’s story is its own, it is also part of something much larger. Restoring natural flow in the Deep River strengthens the health of the entire Cape Fear River system, from piedmont headwaters to coastal estuaries. The benefits are cumulative. Reconnecting even a single stretch of river contributes to a larger vision: a continuous, free-flowing river system where people can paddle from the Deep River toward the coast, where fish and other migratory species can move freely, and where communities along the way are linked by shared stewardship of a healthy watershed for people and for nature.  

As the Ramseur Dam comes down, the Deep River will flow freely for the first time in more than a century. The water will find its natural rhythm again, carving new paths, supporting wildlife, and inviting people back to its banks. This transformation is possible because people, working together with care and vision, choose restoration and resilience. 

Ramseur’s next chapter is about reconnecting—to the river, to each other, and to a broader vision of a restored Deep and Cape Fear River system flowing forward together. Which North Carolina town wants to add to the story? 

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Crews installed emergency bypass and flow-control measures to reduce and ultimately contain the overflow while the longer-term repairs are planned alongside federal, state, and local agencies. The incident brought increasing attention to the condition of aging infrastructure that carries wastewater beneath our communities every day. It also raises scary questions about the consequences that occur when those systems fail.

The Potomac Interceptor’s collapse functions as an important symbol. It represents the risk that communities across the country face on a daily basis as they rely on wastewater systems that were built decades ago and which now exceed the amount of time they were intended to function. These systems break down, and the impacts go far beyond utilities and ratepayers. The failures can threaten water quality and harm river ecosystems. They require costly emergency responses that take resources away from long-term solutions.

The scale of the challenge is national. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Watersheds Needs Survey is the federal government’s comprehensive assessment of wastewater and stormwater infrastructure needs. It notes that about $630 billion will be required over the next 20 years simply to maintain and modernize publicly owned wastewater treatment works and other clean water infrastructure across our nation. This figure shows how much investment is truly needed to repair these aging systems and meet water quality goals in order to protect rivers and downstream communities. Infrastructure failures will continue to occur without sustained funding, and with them will be real consequences for public health and the environment.

What Are State Revolving Funds?

State Revolving Funds (SRFs) are one of the best and most important tools at cities’ disposal to solve this need for better infrastructure. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund are long-standing federal–state partnerships that provide affordable financing to communities for water infrastructure projects. SRFs support investments in wastewater treatment and stormwater management. They also aid projects that protect drinking water supplies. These programs allow states to tailor investments to local needs, which can mean anything from upgrading treatment plants to improving stormwater systems to restoring natural features that support water quality.

SRFs are designed to let public dollars stretch over time because, as loans are repaid, the money goes back into the fund and can be used again to support new projects. SRFs are a proven tool that empowers states to address community water needs and support job creation and long-term economic benefits tied to infrastructure investment.

Why SRFs Work for Rivers and Communities

SRF investments help prevent failures in these systems — like what happened on the Potomac — because they enable communities to upgrade infrastructure before it reaches a breaking point. SRFs play an important role in cutting down pollution and improving water quality while supporting resilient water systems. SRFs can fund nature-based infrastructure such as wetlands and floodplains, and some recent policy proposals call for dedicating a significant share of SRF capitalization to these projects because of their flood-risk and water-quality benefits. They are an incredible tool to deliver co-benefits for people and rivers.

These approaches are especially valuable as communities face increasing pressure from extreme weather and changing hydrologic conditions. Investing in solutions that work with natural processes, SRF-funded projects can strengthen resilience while protecting drinking water sources and downstream ecosystems.

Why This Moment Matters

The Potomac Interceptor collapse offers a clear illustration of what happens when aging systems are pushed beyond their time limits. Emergency repairs and temporary fixes are costly, and they are disruptive. This clean-up is far less effective and more expensive than proactive investment. At the same time, the EPA’s national assessment shows that infrastructure needs are widespread and substantial. These realities point to a simple conclusion that continuing to defer investment will only increase risks and costs over time.

The nation’s documented clean water infrastructure needs are roughly seven times greater than current annual federal investment levels. While the State Revolving Funds (SRF) are currently authorized up $3-4 billion per year, American Rivers estimates that at least $10 billion annually is needed to adequately address wastewater and stormwater infrastructure demands.

People across the country depend on functioning wastewater systems every day, even though many rarely think about them. The failure of these wastewater systems can contaminate rivers and impact recreational waters, causing communities to face significant environmental and financial consequences. Investing in water infrastructure is therefore a choice to dedicate funds for the protection of public and river health, as well as community resilience.

A Call to Action for Congress

Investing in State Revolving Funds is one of the most direct ways Congress can help communities modernize wastewater systems and protect rivers. State Revolving Funds work, but their impact depends on strong federal leadership. It is key to reauthorize and strengthen SRFs through increased federal investment and streamlined access for small and disadvantaged communities. In addition, there must be dedicated funding to natural infrastructure and modernization of permitting and project delivery. These reforms would help ensure that SRFs are equipped to meet today’s infrastructure challenges and support solutions that protect both people and rivers.

The infrastructure needs identified by EPA and the visible consequences of water system failures like the Potomac Interceptor collapse show that this is not a problem Congress can afford to ignore. We know how to fix the problem. What is needed now is the political will to scale to match the magnitude of the challenge.

As Congress considers a water infrastructure package, American Rivers will urge Members of Congress to enact SRF reforms to fix our pipes, modernize water systems, and protect rivers.

You can join us by taking action now.

The post The Funding Tool That Can Help Fix America’s Water Infrastructure and Prevent Future Failures like the Potomac Interceptor appeared first on .

With the dams’ future long the subject of debate, investing in these studies is prudent. It means the Northwest will be informed and ready to adapt with resilient alternatives should Congress decide the dams must be removed.

That remains a possibility, one that would honor tribal treaties, help restore the once-great salmon runs of the Snake River basin, and prevent the extinction of our region’s endangered Southern Resident orcas.

The four studies are underway, and they already show viable alternatives for continuing the services the lower Snake dams currently provide. Let’s begin with transportation. It turns out that ending barge portage of wheat, fertilizer, and some wood products along the lower Snake River could have surprising benefits.

A recent analysis by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) shows that shifting from barge to rail would reduce how far trucks have to travel from farms to rail terminals or river ports by about 18 million miles every year. That reduction would lower annual emissions by approximately 29,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Cleaner air and less road wear and tear are some of the other obvious benefits.

How much would this change cost? The same WSDOT analysis shows a total annual increase of $8 million to farming enterprises. Farm support to offset this amount would be justified, considering taxpayers are projected to spend $4.5 billion to $8.35 billion over the next 50 years to keep the four dams, and this eye-popping expenditure would no longer be needed.

The study by WSDOT is progressing on schedule, with a final report due to the legislature by this December.

On water supply, we know the reservoir behind Ice Harbor Dam irrigates up to 55,000 acres of farmland, and Lewiston and Clarkston use the reservoir behind Lower Granite Dam for municipal water. In their draft study last year, the Washington Department of Ecology and the Bureau of Reclamation found there will be more than enough water in a free-flowing lower Snake River to cover these needs. Ecology is expected to release the final study by early summer.

The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office and the Department of Fish and Wildlife are expected to analyze the business opportunities for recreational activities on 140 miles of free-flowing river. The possibilities here are exciting and endless, including increased fishing and the potential to create the state’s only multi-day rafting experience. The proposed study would generate hard economic numbers on the significant recreation jobs and revenue that would result for our local and regional economy. Globally, nature-based tourism generates more than $600 billion a year, and Washington’s unique river and mountain ecosystems offer us the chance to bite into a bigger slice of this pie.

Finally, we want to address the state study into the hydropower the four lower Snake dams produce. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) completed phase one of this study last year. It determined that the dams produce an average of 700 megawatts each year, far less than is usually stated. Water availability, grid constraints, and ensuring critical fish passage impact the dams’ energy production, which is less than 4% of the Northwest’s total average power generation.

The PNNL report shows the lower Snake River dams are not designed to significantly increase output when it’s most needed, particularly during extreme weather events. Further, their role is overshadowed by upriver federal storage dams. It also found that because the lower Snake dams are dependent on seasonal stream flows, their future contributions will likely be reduced as the region trends toward less snowpack.

PNNL acknowledged the local grid support that the dams provide to the Tri-Cities. Other national studies show that strategically placed battery storage can provide the fastest reactive power for communities and grid support. Governor Bob Ferguson has asked that the full energy study be completed by 2027.

These state studies are not authorized to decide the fate of the dams on the lower Snake River. Their power and purpose rest in preparing all of us for such an eventuality. American Rivers is grateful they are happening, so communities are ready, and so the intertwined environment and economy all life depends upon in the Northwest can continue to thrive into the future.

This blog was first published in the Tri-City Herald, Feb. 22, 2026 https://www.tri-cityherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article314580320.html

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