The Misery River

The Missouri River is the nation's most threatened river, according to a report released today by American Rivers. In its annual report of endangered waterways, the group blamed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the terrible conditions of Big Muddy. The river is dammed in six places; dredging for barge traffic has shortened it by 127 miles and reduced its width by two-thirds. Efforts to change the management plan for the river have pitted environmentalists against farmers, as well as downstream states against those upstream. The current report marked the second year in a row and the third time since 1997 that the Missouri River came in last in the American Rivers ranking. Other rivers in bad shape include the Big Sunflower in Mississippi, the Klamath in Oregon and California, the Kansas in Kansas, the Powder in Wyoming, the White in Arkansas, and the Apalachicola in Florida.