Associated Press

Five million Americans in four states and the District of Columbia drink water from the Potomac River. Yet according to the environmental group American Rivers, that water is at risk: in a report issued on Tuesday, it listed the Potomac as No. 1 on its annual list of the most endangered rivers.

In listing the river, the group cited efforts under way in Congress to weaken federal legislation that prevented the Potomac from succumbing to the pollution that threatened it in the 1960s and ’70s.

Bob Irvin, president of American Rivers, said the abundance of such legislative proposals prompted the group to emphasize threats to the Clean Water Act over all in drawing up this year’s list.

“There are measures in Congress that would roll back its protections and erase 40 years of progress, in the Potomac River and rivers and streams all over the country,” he said. “Most Americans would be appalled at the idea that we are going to turn back the clock to a time when rivers were so polluted you couldn’t touch them or they were on fire.”

The list includes rivers in virtually every region of the country, including the Green River, a Colorado River tributary that runs through Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, and the Chattahoochee River in Georgia.

We spoke with Mr. Irvin about the report and the general state of the nation’s rivers. Following are excerpts, edited for brevity and clarity.

Q.

This isn’t necessarily a list of the country’s most polluted rivers. How do you select them?

Krista Schlyer

A.

This is the 27th annual list of America’s most endangered rivers. Each year we compile the list by soliciting nominations from our partners, citizens and our staff. We identify the rivers that we think are of national significance, that have a serious and impending threat to them, and, most importantly, face some decision or action in coming months that will determine its fate. By highlighting them, we invite the public to weigh in and help bring about action.

Q.



Of these 10 rivers, there seem to be some patterns. Several are threatened by the same types of activities: energy development or dam- and reservoir-building.



A.

There’s a threat from natural gas development and fracking in the Grand River in Ohio and the Hoback in Wyoming. There’s a threat to water quality as chemicals are injected into groundwater and the disposal of the fluids is not regulated, and also a threat to water quantity because massive amounts of water are used.

The Clean Water Act was intended to bring about uniform federal regulation. But unfortunately, natural gas development enjoys a unique exemption from both the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Another area we’ve highlighted and unfortunately have had to highlight many times is the threat of dams and diversions. It makes a lot more sense to focus on measures to use water more efficiently. It’s cheaper and more effective than building new dams and reservoirs, yet those continue to be the first choice for some politicians and managers.

Q.

Do you consider those activities and the challenges to the Clean Water Act to be the biggest overall threats to river health in the United States?

A.

When you think about it, all of those things involve water pollution, the diversion and removal of water from rivers and streams, and preventing them from flowing freely and naturally. You lose all the values people count on — to enjoy rivers for fishing and recreation, and to be able to depend on them for drinking water. When a member of Congress has a glass of water, they’re drinking Potomac water.

Right now, there are the greatest number of bills threatening to roll back Clean Water Act protection in its 40-year history. Opponents of the Clean Water Act have gotten pretty smart. They’re introducing lots of individual bills that do things like prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers from protecting headwater streams and wetlands, both of which are critical to the health of rivers.

They’re doing this under the guise of saying that those rivers cannot be used for interstate commerce and that therefore the federal government cannot regulate them.

There are bills to prevent the federal government from regulating the use of pesticides around rivers and leave it to states, which often lack the resources. We need a strong, uniform set of federal protections if our rivers and streams that flow through many states are going to be protected.

There’s another bill to prevent the E.P.A. from regulating mountaintop mining. Opponents of the Clean Water Act and their backers in industry and big ag are practicing death by a thousand cuts.

Q.



The Missouri River is also on the list, at No. 4. What’s the problem there?

A.

The issue is that floodplain management is deficient. It’s the nation’s longest river, and what we see repeatedly are these massive flooding events. We are relying on outmoded structural solutions to flood management, levees and diversion structures and dams as our primary line of defense. It gives us a false sense of confidence that it’s O.K. to build in the floodplain, and then, when those defenses fail those areas flood again. We need to invest in natural floodplain management. Those are a line of defense.

We’re calling on Congress to fully fund the Missouri River Recovery Program, which has natural flood protection as its centerpiece, and to restore funding for studies like the Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan that help guide federal agencies as they develop plans that focus on natural floodplain management.

There’s a great book by John Barry called “Rising Tide,” about the great Mississippi River flood of 1927. All the things that occurred in 1927 continue to occur today. We just keep repeating the same mistakes.

Q.

There are lots of natural places and landscape features that need protection. What’s so important about rivers?

A.

If you think about rivers and their role in the development of this country, all of our towns were built along them. They’re critical to life itself, to drinking water, to the fish we eat, to recreational experiences we enjoy. They’re the veins and arteries of the nation, and like our own veins we need to keep them clean and free-flowing.

Q.

What’s your favorite river?

A.

It’s the White River in Vermont. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I’ve spent many days fishing and swimming and floating in it. My kids learned to fish on it. So there’s a connection with that river and my family that’s indelible. Everybody can think of some special river that they connect to.