American Rivers has released its annual report:
America's Most Endangered Rivers of 2006 (36-page pdf) At the top of the list this year is the Pajaro River, which flows into Monterey Bay.
And the villain once again in AR's view, on the Pajaro and elsewhere, is the US Army Corps of Engineers and the mindset that seeks to correct for environmental destruction upstream by channelizing downstream.
Continued below.
(Celilo Falls on the Columbia River, submerged in 1957 by The Dalles dam. Photograph courtesy of, wait for it now, the USACE)
Lower stretch of the Pajaro
This report is very easy to read, folks, and I cannot do it justice. Well worth your time.
Fighting natural processes instead of working and living with them dooms us to an expensive "hydrological arms race" of ever higher levees that will eventually fail to hold back even higher floodwaters. From AR's Summary on the Pajaro, but applicable to wrongheaded attempts at flood control everywhere:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' antiquated approach to flood control jeopardizes the future of the Pajaro River. The Corps' plan to rebuild levees and ignore problems upstream is fundamentally flawed and, if implemented, would lure businesses and residents to build in harm's way. Unless the Corps adopts a modern and comprehensive flood control project that works with nature -- instead of against it -- the health of the river will continue to decline and the safety and economic viability of riverside communities will face an ever-increasing threat of catastrophic flooding.
Yep. This is getting to be an old story. Read more about it at
pajarowatershed.com
What is the saying? If all you have is a hammer . . . What the Corps has is concrete. Lots of it. Trees? Not so much. Despite a new green coat of paint on its public face, an ecosystems approach is still not its strong suit.
In fairness it must be noted that the USACE's job is to do what Congress tells it to do. Nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. Another example of the quaint idea called congressional oversight. AR is fully congizant of this and urges its members and supporters to get behind legislation overhauling the Corps' approach sponsored by two people familiar to readers of DailyKos:
Building on their longstanding efforts to modernize the Corps, Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AZ) have introduced legislation addressing many of the problems highlighted by the Corps' role in the flooding of New Orleans. The Water Resources Planning and Modernization Act of 2006 (S.2288)
Rounding out the list:
2. Upper Yellowstone River, Montana
3. Willamette River, Oregon.
4. Salmon Trout River, Michigan
5. Shenandoah River, Virginia, West Virginia.
6. Boise River, Idaho.
7. Caloosahatchee River, Florida.
8. Bristol Bay watershed, Alaska.
9. San Jacinto River, Texas
10. Verde River, Arizona.
The site of Celilo Falls today (note the same bridge):