The Mississippi River is under threat.
 
Air and water pollution, downstream flooding and coastal land loss, among other environmental pressures, put the health of the waterway — and the communities that depend on it — at risk. The Mississippi was named as the "most endangered river" in 2025 by American Rivers, an environmental advocacy nonprofit. 
 
PBS News’ Miles O’Brien hosted a live conversation with several experts this week to discuss what emerging solutions could be done to help the river, which stretches some 2,340 miles from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.
 
The Mississippi River provides drinking water to more than 18 million people and discharges more than half a million cubic feet of water per second into the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately 500 million tons of cargo, valued at nearly $100 billion, are transported on the river each year.