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Sustainable Rivers Project

Savannah River, Georgia © The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy and the United States Army Corps of Engineers in July 2002 formed a partnership to restore and preserve rivers across the country. Under the Sustainable Rivers Project, the Conservancy and the Corps will work together to improve dam management in order to protect the ecological health of rivers and surrounding natural areas while continuing to provide services such as flood control and power generation.

The Sustainable Rivers Project is currently working on 11 rivers with 26 dams that flow through 13 states. Additional dams are to be added to the Project in the future.

Download a map of the Sustainable Rivers Project sites

State(s)	River(s)	Dam(s)
Arkansas / Missouri	White / Black / Little Red	Table Rock / Bull Shoals / Norfolk / Clearwater
Arizona	Bill Williams	Alamo
Georgia/South Carolina	Savannah River	J. Strom Thurmond
Kentucky	Green	Green
New Hampshire	Ashuelot	Surry Mountain, Otter Brook Dams
North Carolina / Virginia	Roanoke	John B Kerr
Oregon	Willamette River	13 Dams
Texas / Louisiana	Caddo Lake / Big Cypress Bayou	Ferrell's Bridge Dam
Vermont	West River	Ball Mountain,  Townsend Dams

Green River, Kentucky © Lynda Richardson

Learn More About the Sustainable Rivers Project About the Conservancy's Sustainable Waters Program About The Nature Conservancy's success stories worldwide About how The Nature Conservancy works to achieve conservation results

Pilot Project: Kentucky's Green River

The Sustainable Rivers Project began with a collaboration between the Conservancy and the Corps to improve habitat along the Green River in Kentucky, the nation's fourth-most diverse river for fish and mussel species.

Working together, the Conservancy and the Corps identified a more ecologically compatible water-release schedule from the Green River Dam by delaying fall reservoir releases until after the spawning period for certain fish and mussel species.

These changes will provide significant benefits to plants and animals, without sacrificing the dam's primary purpose of flood control. For recreational users, the changes actually extend access to the reservoir by more than a month.