"The Colorado River — which provides drinking water, irrigation and electricity for more than 40 million people in the West — is the most endangered river in the United States this year, according to the nonprofit conservation group American Rivers.
From the Pacific Northwest to Alabama, American Rivers ranked the top 10 most endangered rivers across the country — crises brought on by worsening droughts, human-made dams and coal-ash contamination. The Colorado River's outdated water management practices have been worsened by climate change, pushing the river into the No. 1 slot, the group said.
Matt Rice, the group's director of the Colorado Basin Program, said that the climate crisis is really the theme of this year's report.
"The climate crisis is really a water crisis, and ground zero for that crisis is the Colorado River Basin," Rice told CNN. "We are being pushed in realtime to live with the river we have, to adapt to a hotter, drier reality in the Colorado River." "
Rachel Ramirez reports for CNN April 18, 2022.
SEE ALSO:
"America's Most Endangered Rivers of 2022" (American Rivers)
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