Giving Compass' Take:

• According to a new study, only about 37% of the world's 246 longest rivers remain free-flowing. Dams and reservoirs are to blame for reducing the diverse benefits that healthy rivers provide. 

• Free-flowing rivers are important for humans and the environment alike, yet economic development around the world is making them increasingly rare. How can conservations and donors collaborate in saving river ecosystems? 

• Here's an article on the benefits of prioritizing healthy rivers. 

Researchers assessed the connectivity status of 12 million kilometers (around 7.5 million miles) of rivers worldwide, providing the first ever global assessment of the location and extent of the planet’s remaining free-flowing rivers.

“THE WORLD’S RIVERS FORM AN INTRICATE NETWORK WITH VITAL LINKS TO LAND, GROUNDWATER, AND THE ATMOSPHERE.”

Among other findings, the researchers determined only 21 of the world’s 91 rivers longer than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) that originally flowed to the ocean still retain a direct connection from source to sea. The planet’s remaining free-flowing rivers are largely restricted to remote regions of the Arctic, the Amazon Basin, and the Congo Basin.

“The world’s rivers form an intricate network with vital links to land, groundwater, and the atmosphere,” says lead author Günther Grill, a postdoctoral researcher in the geography department at McGill University.

Read the full article about how dams and reservoirs impact our rivers by Cynthia Lee at Futurity.