Lori Pottinger
International Rivers

"In the last 10 years, the health of the world's rivers has deteriorated, as damming has fragmented them, pollution has sickened them and diversions of their waters have drained them. Today, about 60% of the world's major rivers have been dammed, and many more dams are planned for the world's great rivers. While we know that large dams can have a huge impact on water quality and quantity, as well as on ecosystems that support healthy watershed functioning, we continue to abuse these lifelines. The latest development is a dam industry that is energized by the hope that they can sell their dams as a solution to climate change. The reality is that large dams can actually be major contributors of greenhouse gases, and are in fact at great risk from climate change as increased floods and droughts can both impact their functionality.

On a positive note, the global movement to protect rivers has continued to grow in the past 10 years. And in the US and a few other countries, the movement to remove harmful and useless dams to help restore ecosystem services is on the upswing, and fisheries are blooming again where the walls have come down.

International Rivers is at the heart of the global movement to protect and restore rivers from large dams and unhealthy water diversions. For 30 years, we've been sounding the alarm about the state of the world's rivers. We support the global movement to protect rivers with research, capacity building for local partners, pressure on lending institutions, networking opportunities, etc. in addition to campaigning on key dams in major basins in the global south, we recently created an interactive tool on the State of the World's Rivers.

For the future, we hope that the forces which are conspiring to turn free-flowing rivers into engines of industry are constrained, and that the value of healthy rivers for all life on the planet is recognized before we lose another river. We can each do our part in our local watershed, by being involved and learning the value of our local rivers and creeks. "