The Mississippi River runs through the heart of our nation. It’s a source for jobs, wildlife, recreation and cultural icons. But pollution from agriculture, development and industry is wrecking our Big River. This pollution threatens our drinking water, quality of life and our economies.
Thousands of River Citizens have pledged to take action to protect the River at festivals, River events, clean-ups and online. You can continue to protect the River by speaking up on its behalf.
On May 17, the incredible flooding of the Mississippi River earned it a “special mention” in American Rivers’ annual list of Most Endangered Rivers. The 2011 floods, which are the highest since 1927, have displaced people from their homes and caused as yet uncalculated damage to tax payers and families.
The flood of 1927 was the result of eight months of sustained high waters, but the flood of 2011 reared and appeared in the space of a month. What’s the difference between 1927 and 2011? With the loss of wetlands and river floodplains, there is less space for the water to flow in the greater Mississippi valley.
Wetlands filter pollutants, absorb excess rainwater and reduce flooding by acting as a giant sponge. Scientists estimate that returning lands in the Upper Mississippi River basin to their original form—wetlands—would significantly reduce future flooding.
While levees and floodwalls make sense in heavily populated areas, their overuse causes flood levels to rise as the river channel is narrowed and water has nowhere to go but up – making flooding worse for communities downstream. Levees should be our last line of defense, not our only line of defense.
Government’s job is to protect us and our most basic needs, like clean water and flood control. But as the 2011 flood damage piles up, it’s clear that government can do a better job.
The Obama Administration has an opportunity now to transform the way we plan and implement water resource projects for things like flood control. The water resource planning Principles and Guidelines set criteria and requirements that guide how tax payer dollars and government resources are used when solving water problems.
To protect the Mississippi River for future generations and get it off the Most Endangered Rivers list for good, please ask President Obama to make the new planning guidelines better by requiring projects to use non-structural approaches like wetlands to solve water problems whenever possible. If a water resources problem can be solved by non-structural solutions that help to protect and restore our natural defenses, this should be the first choice.
Tell President Obama to protect our nation’s people by protecting one of our nation’s Most Endangered Rivers. Here’s how:
Send the following message to the President; copy and paste your version of this message into the form at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact:
Dear President Obama,
Your leadership on the new water resources planning Principles and Guidelines (P&G) is critical to ensure that they not only protect the health and well-being of the people who live and depend upon the Mississippi River, but also all of the American people and the environment that we cherish.
Your Administration has an unparalleled opportunity to establish new P&G for our federal water resources projects so that they protect the public, environment and economic vitality of communities across the nation for decades to come. The new P&G must set clear criteria and requirements to guide project planning, including a requirement to utilize non-structural, restoration, and water efficiency approaches (like wetlands) to solve water problems when those solutions are available and practicable. If a water resources problem can be solved by non-structural solutions that help to protect and restore our natural defenses, this should be the first choice.
As record flooding on the Mississippi River moves south and the scenes of devastation in Mississippi River communities continue, this should be a call to action to get the new P&G right.
By making the right decisions on how we plan our federal water resources projects we will not only weather future storms and improve public safety, we will ultimately save money and enjoy all of the benefits healthy rivers and floodplains provide.
Thank you,
YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS