Hotdog stand on the Mississippi riverfront, April 16, 2001. Jeff Stein, American Rivers.
Flooding is the America's most frequent and destructive natural disaster.
Grassy marshes and forested wetlands line the banks of healthy rivers, and a single acre of these habitats can store up to 1.5 million gallons of rainwater. Read the media advisory To restore rivers to health and reverse the trend towards more frequent and more severe flooding, American Rivers advocates increased efforts by federal and local governments and landowners to protect and restore wetlands habitat. The Bush Administration wants to eliminate funding for the Wetlands Reserve Program, which has contributed enormously to preservation of wetlands on agricultural lands, while compensating farmers for their conservation efforts. This is a step in the wrong direction and will likely aggravate flooding problems in agricultural areas. The construction of levees, pumps, and other projects that drain wetlands and cut rivers off their floodplains in the name of flood control should be closely scrutinized.