West's Disappearing Rivers - A new tool to measure—at a micro and macro scale—how rivers in 11 western states have been affected by human use
The West's Disappearing Rivers - A new tool to measure—at a micro and macro scale—how rivers in 11 western states have been affected by human use
Rivers are the lifeblood of the West. They irrigate crops, provide clean drinking water, serve as habitat for fish and wildlife, and fuel an $887 billion outdoor recreation economy. But rivers are under immense pressure. Climate change, development, and an ever-changing landscape are placing growing stress on the waterways that are so inextricably tied to the health of Western communities and economies. With half of our rivers altered by development, the state of water in the West is bordering on a crisis.
Through the Disappearing Rivers project, the Center for American Progress is providing the first comprehensive snapshot of the condition of Western rivers. To follow up on its groundbreaking Disappearing West analysis, CAP’s Public Lands Project partnered with Conservation Science Partners to develop a tool to measure how rivers across the West have been affected by human uses of land and water resources. This project documents the extent to which rivers in the West have been dammed, diverted, or otherwise altered from their natural state by human development.
Visit the Rivers section of DisappearingWest.org to read more about the state of Western rivers, explore how and why they are changing on an interactive map, and download fact sheets for each Western state.
https://disappearingwest.org/rivers.html