According to the group American Rivers, the Colorado river is the most endangered river in the United States. Outdated water policies and climate change seem to be the main causes.
"We’re in our 12th or 13th year of prolonged drought in the basin; we’ve had below-average precipitation most years, and that is compounded upon itself, year to year. Reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell are at about 50 percent or slightly less capacity," said Matt Niemerski, director of American Rivers.
The amount of water flowing is projected to continue declining. Bart Miller from the Bureau of Reclamation recommends focusing on water usage. "
The Basin Study actually articulates that there’s a million acre-feet of water, that’s a big part of the gap between the supply and demand, that might be made available through urban conservation. And there’s another million acre-feet that could be made available through agricultural conservation," Miller said.
Other rivers included on this years endangered list are the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota and the San Saba River in Texas.