April 16, 2025 – St. Louis, Missouri – The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI) issued the following statement regarding the inclusion of the Mississippi River in American Rivers’ Top Endangered Rivers List for 2025.
“The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, through our mayors, has been working to secure our nation’s most important waterway for over a decade. This effort requires diverse partners from many sectors including companies, states, and federal agencies. Our mayors and their communities, from the headwaters to the mouth of the Mississippi River, rely on its waters for manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, navigation, and energy. The vitality of the Mississippi River has a direct bearing on the economy of the United State” said MRCTI Co-Chair, George Flaggs, Mayor of Vicksburg, MS.
MRCTI does not believe the Mississippi River has earned the designation of “Nation’s Most Endangered Waterway,” Rather, we believe that there is always a need to protect our nation’s and the world’s most important waterway. Thanks to the efforts of our mayors and many other partners, the Mississippi River has realized significant improvements including new natural infrastructure, landscape protections, added conservation lands, and water quality integrity measures. Great strides have been made, but challenges remain in terms of mitigating drought, expanding natural habitat, reducing nutrient loading, and achieving ecological excellence.
“Further, MRCTI agrees with the Administration that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) does indeed need significant reform. However, a total elimination of the agency would cripple the nation’s emergency response and risk management apparatus. Additionally, disaster response along the Mississippi River is inherently a multi-state question and thus, FEMA needs to continue to play a vital role in coordinating the efforts of many states to systemically mitigate risks, recover, and restore infrastructure. MRCTI Mayors are ready to work with the President to reform FEMA, expand states’ role and save taxpayer resources,” explained MRCTI Louisiana State Chair Belinda Constant, Mayor of Gretna, LA.
MRCTI, our mayors, and their communities along our river have in the past decade:
- Deployed with conservation partners natural infrastructure across the Mississippi River Corridor;
- Developed the effort to pass and fund the Resilience Revolving Loan Fund, or STORM Act;
- Led the effort to enact a full-river ecosystem restoration program;
- Restored the Marine Highway Grant Program from zero to over $10 million in annual funding
- Deployed the corridor’s first Environmental Impact Bonds for natural Infrastructure;
- Secured over $1 billion in federal funds for the nation’s waterways and conservation;
- Deployed the first citizen science plastic tracker app for the Mississippi River
- Continued in preserving and supporting the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program
As an association with 105 communities, MRCTI seeks to improve the Mississippi River and protect its role as America’s most vital waterway.
# # #
About the Mississippi Rivers Cities & Towns Initiative (MRCTI)
MRCTI is a coalition of 105 mayors from across the Mississippi River Basin, which spans nearly a third of the country. The Mississippi River provides drinking water to more than 20 million people and 50 cities. More than 60 billion gallons of fresh water are withdrawn from the river daily. The river’s resources support 1.5 million jobs and create $496.7 billion in annual revenue.