Brief by Central Staff
Water – June 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine
Last year, three streams that start in Central Colorado made it to the list of America’s 10 Most Endangered Rivers. This year, it was nary a one. But some of our rivers, such as the Gunnison, are tributary to the Colorado, which made the top of the 2004 list.
The list is issued annually by American Rivers, a conservation organization founded in 1973, and it is “not a list of the nation’s ‘worst’ or most polluted rivers.” It lists those facing “acute threats rather than chronic conditions.”
The Colorado River’s problems are severe, but the cited threats occur downstream. “The Colorado River is not yet the most polluted river in the country, but it could become so if the current problems are allowed to fester,” according to Rebecca R. Wodder, president of American Rivers.
Major problems include the Atlas Mill site near Moab, Utah; it’s an old uranium-ore processing plant where 12 million gallons of radioactive waste are stored. The National Academy of Sciences says it’s nearly certain that the river will someday shift course into the storage ponds, and even now, 110,000 gallons of radioactive water seep into the river each day.
Human waste from septic tanks along the river in California and Arizona is another threat to the river, and in Henderson, Nev., ammonium perchlorate from an old military facility is seeping into Lake Mead, the reservoir behind Hoover Dam.
Other rivers on this year’s list were the Big Sunflower (Mississippi), Snake (Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington), Tennessee (Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky), Allegheny and Monongahela (West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York), Spokane (Idaho and Washington), Housatonic (Massachusetts and Connecticut), Peace (Florida), Big Darby Creek (Ohio), and the Mississippi (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana).
We note that the Arkansas and South Platte rivers are tributary to the Mississippi. Last year’s endangered list included the Gunnison, the Rio Grande, and the Platte.