American Rivers

The majority of our nation’s dams are outdated, not built to withstand modern day storms and flooding.

This National Dam Safety Awareness Day, read our President & CEO, Tom Kiernan,'s Op-Ed urging Congress to prioritize public safety and approve dedicated funding for the regular upkeep, rehabilitation, and removal of dams:

Public safety crisis: Budget cuts may cause US dams to fail Members of Congress need to put public safety first and approve dedicated funding for the regular upkeep, rehabilitation or removal of dams.

This National Dam Safety Awareness Day, watch our in-depth explainer video on removing outdated, obsolete dams for the benefit of community safety, water quality, wildlife, and more.

🎥 Watch here:

How Removing Dams Benefits People and Rivers Few things have such a fundamental impact on a river as a dam or cu...

Each of the ten rivers on our America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2026 list is at a tipping point, facing an urgent decision in the coming months. They need you.

🗣️ for their future today:

Take Action The Fresno County Board of Supervisors must reject CEMEX’s proposal to expand their operating permit to create a 600-foot-deep blast mine.

Exciting news for the ! 🎉

The DOI recently announced the release of $40 million for the purchase and protection of water rights held by the Shoshone Hydropower Plant which are crucial to sustaining its flows.

Learn more about this effort:

Historic Step Forward to Secure Environmental Flows in the Colorado River On the evening of November 19, a packed conference room in the Denver West Marriott erupted in cheers when the Colorado Water Conservation Board approved one of the largest ever dedications of water for the environment in Colorado’s history. This new deal, if completed, will ensure that water curr...

In California’s Central Valley, a river can look alive and still be starving. The San Joaquin winds through farmland and former floodplain country, but for much of the last century, it has been cut off from the seasonal flooding that is the life force of juvenile fish.

That is why inland salmon and steelhead — ocean-going rainbow trout — recovery conversations keep circling back to one idea: The river must be reconnected to the land beside it.

If the benefits floodplains provide for fish are repeatedly backed by science, the question becomes: Where and how can floodplains be restored? 🌾 Read here:

How Floodplains Grow Fish on the San Joaquin River In California’s Central Valley, a river can look alive and still be starving. The San Joaquin winds through farmland and former floodplain country, but for much of the last century, it has been cut off from the seasonal flooding that is the lifeforce of juvenile fish. That is why inland salmon and...

The Roadless Rule is a landmark national policy adopted by the U.S. Forest Service in 2001 to maintain approximately 58.5 million acres of largely healthy, undeveloped National Forest System lands.

The Rule does this by prohibiting new road construction and commercial timber harvest in designated Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRAs). The importance of these protections cannot be overstated.

🌲 What's happening right now with the and why you should care:

The Roadless Rule and Rivers “The Roadless Rule safeguards millions of acres of forest from being carved up, developed, and put at greater risk from catastrophic wildfire and provides nearly 25 million Americans with low-cost, clean drinking water.” —David Moryc, Senior Director of River Protection for American Rivers The...