Seven percent of the world's freshwater flows through Canadian rivers. But industrial development and pollution threaten many of Canada's rivers, according to the environmental groups EarthWild International and Wildcanada.net. To highlight rivers at risk, the groups announced their second annual list of the country's ten most endangered rivers today.
Topping the list is New Brunswick's Petitcodiac River. A long-standing causeway on the river dams tidal flow from the Atlantic Ocean, adversely impacting river health. Quebec's Eastmain and Rupert rivers, threatened by a planned hydro-electric project, follow in second place. Other rivers on the 2003 National Endangered Rivers List include three in British Columbia: the Okanagan (third), and the Taku and Iskut rivers (tied for fourth place); followed by Ontario's Groundhog River (fifth); Alberta's Milk and Bow rivers (sixth and tenth, respectively); the Yukon and Northwest Territory's Peel River (seventh); Manitoba's Red River (eighth); and Labrador's Churchill (ninth).
National Geographic News recently spoke with David Boyd, chairperson of Canada's Endangered Rivers Committee for Vancouver-based EarthWild International, about the list.
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