U.S. Water News Online
WASHINGTON -- American Rivers, the nation's leading
river conservation organization, recently honored 16 award-winning
urban
river restoration projects that have made outstanding contributions
to the restoration
of damaged rivers throughout the United States.
These river restoration projects, led by grassroots organizations,
are
located in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland,
Massachussetts,
Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and
Washington.
According to American Rivers President Rebecca Wodder, all these
projects are providing leadership that is greatly needed in the
national effort
to restore degraded rivers in the U.S.
"Urban rivers are the most neglected and degraded rivers
in the nation," said Wodder. "Historic patterns of settlement and
industrial
development along rivers have brought prosperity to our country and
destruction
to our rivers. Long ago, the nation turned its back on our cities'
rivers, leaving
the poor and indigent, who could not afford to live elsewhere, to
deal
with the cumulative effects of centuries of abuse. American Rivers
believes
it is time to rediscover our neglected urban rivers and reclaim
them,"
she said. The announcement of these awards kicked off a two-day
National
Urban Rivers Symposium in Washington, D.C. attended by over 100 urban
river
restoration leaders. Much of the conference focused on rebuilding
urban communities through river restoration.
Wodder hopes the current grassroots efforts at rehabilitating
hundreds of streams in cities nationwide will provide a useful model
for those
interested in restoring their own local rivers and streams. American
Rivers,
she said, offers a restoration model for the future, where river
advocates
"work together with corporations, federal, state and local
agencies,
church groups, chambers of commerce, youth groups, service corps --
Democrats
and Republicans alike -- to protect and restore the streams in
their
own backyards."
Wodder pointed out that too many of our rivers are polluted
and
now lie wasted. Yet these very rivers provide most urban drinking
water,
as well as recreation, and fishing. Restored rivers, she said, help
make
cities livable again, offering many urban residents a significant
connection
to nature, and providing enormous benefits for public health,
recreation, economic
growth, and spiritual well-being, while helping to decrease crime and
other social ills.
In addition, river restoration projects can create jobs,
stimulate
the economy, and revitalize communities, said Wodder. Rather than
roll back the environmental progress of the past 25 years to the days
when the
Cuyahoga River caught fire, American Rivers said the U.S. needs to
push
ahead to restore urban rivers.
American Rivers called for full funding for several agencies
and
programs crucial to urban river restoration, including the
Environmental
Protection Agency, National Park Service Rivers and Trails Program,
Urban
Rivers Resources Partnership, and the stateswide component of the
Land
and Water Conservation Fund.
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