A research coalition has given the Upper Mississippi River basin a C for overall conditions, sharply faulting the region for an aging transportation system and an increasing numbers of people living within the flood plain.

The entire Mississippi River watershed, which includes more than 41 percent of the continental U.S., received only a D-plus rating Wednesday from America’s Watershed Initiative, a collaborative group that worked with businesses, governments, agriculture, academics, conservation and civic organizations to assess the river throughout 31 states.

None of the five sub-basins — the Upper Mississippi River, Lower Mississippi River, the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, the Arkansas and Red Rivers, and the Missouri River — got higher than a C in the initiative’s “report card,” designed to establish a clear baseline for improvement.

The Missouri and Ohio and Tennessee basins matched the Upper Mississippi’s C mark, while the Arkansas and Red River drew a C-minus and the Lower Mississippi a D-plus.

Jordy Jordahl, director of America’s Watershed Initiative, said the group spent more than two years gathering data from hundreds of Mississippi River stakeholders to compile the grades.

“The constant response,” Jordahl said, “is that the river is really threatened and no longer able to meet their goals and needs.”

Added Jordahl, “We need to do more. That’s what it (the report card) says.”

All of the areas were scored on six broad goals: recreation, ecosystems, flood control and risk reduction, transportation, water supply and economy.

The worst marks came in transportation, primarily due to a lock and dam system the group termed outdated and deteriorating while expected to move millions of tons of goods and commodities. Infrastructure maintenance drew the only F for the overall Mississippi River watershed, infrastructure condition a D.

The Upper Mississippi River basin, which extends from northern Minnesota to the St. Louis area, also received one of its two failing grades on infrastructure maintenance, while infrastructure condition was rated just slightly better at a D-minus.

“Aging levees, locks and dams in need of reinvestment weaken America’s ability to transport and export food and goods, and increase flood risk for communities,” said Stephen Gambrell, director of the Mississippi River Commission, adding, “the longer we wait to invest in raising the grade of America’s watershed, the more it will cost us and our children in the future.”

The Upper Mississippi’s other F came in floodplain population change, enough to bring its overall score for flood control and risk reduction down to a D-plus despite earning a B-minus on floodplain elevations, one of the better marks in that category among the entire watershed.

Some bright spots for the Upper Mississippi basin: a B for streamside habitat, one of only two basins with this grade; an A on lack of lock delays, the highest in the entire river watershed; and B’s on water depletion and hunting and fishing licenses.

Jordahl, who lives in Madison, said the next step is to work on getting those grades higher throughout the Mississippi River watershed. The coalition met Wednesday in St. Louis toward developing a three-year improvement plan for the six goals, he said.

The effort will require both public and private investment in river infrastructure, better collaboration and partnerships and more engagement throughout the entire watershed rather than focusing on a specific area, Jordahl said.

“This project has been built with the contributions of hundreds of stakeholders … and we’re going to need that kind of effort to raise the grade of the Mississippi River watershed,” Jordahl said. “That’s the only way we can get this done.”