Sacramento Business Journal - June 2, 2010

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by Kelly Johnson Staff writer

The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta ranks second on the America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2010 list released Wednesday.

American Rivers, a national organization advocating for healthy rivers, said “outdated water-supply and flood-management systems have decimated the ecosystem and closed the commercial salmon fishery all while leaving Californians ever more vulnerable to droughts and floods. Now two separate efforts to re-engineer the state water-supply and flood-control system threaten to increase water diversions and preclude floodplain restoration that is essential for salmon recovery and public safety.”

Topping the list is the Upper Delaware, where gas drilling threatens the drinking water for 17 million people across New York and Pennsylvania, the organization reported.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta was the only California river on the list.

The American Rivers’ 25th anniversary list ranked the 10 most endangered rivers and cited rivers on previous lists that are now success stories, including California’s Klamath River, San Mateo Creek and the Tuolumne River.

“The threats facing this year’s rivers are more pressing than ever, from gas drilling that could pollute the drinking water of millions of people, to the construction of costly and unnecessary new dams, to outdated flood management that threatens public safety,” Rebecca Wodder, American Rivers president, said in a news release.

“But the report isn’t all bad news. Thanks to the publicity America’s Most Endangered Rivers generates, we have enjoyed tremendous victories over the past 25 years, from the Penobscot in Maine to the Big Sunflower in Mississippi to the Klamath in California.”

“The report proves that when citizens take action, we can achieve great victories for our rivers and clean water,” she said.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the organization noted, “supplies drinking water for 25 million people, irrigates the most productive agricultural land in the country, and provides critical habitat for the Pacific salmon fishery and millions of migratory birds.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could aid river restoration efforts before leaving office, the organization reported in its ranking, “but only if powerful interests do not prevail in perpetuating the failed policies of the past.”

The organization selected rivers based on:

* A major decision in the coming year that the public can help influence
* The significance of the threat to human and natural communities
* The degree to which the proposed action would exacerbate or alleviate stresses caused by climate change.

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