American Rivers named the Hudson River the second most endangered river in the country. This report is a call to action to help prevent the river from flowing down what is claimed to be an environmentally dangerous path.

A federal, state, and local plan would build storm-surge barriers to help protect communities from flooding. 

"That would seem like a good thing but the Army Corps of Engineers is not traditionally tasked with mitigating climate change and other things like that. They have not taken as comprehensive of a view that we would like of the river and the whole Hudson River estuary," said Greg Williams, executive director of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.

These barriers would be constructed at points where water flows in and out of the river, having impacts on wildlife and entire ecosystems.

"As you can imagine, if you shut off most of an animals airway, it will have a very difficult time breathing," Williams said. "At the very least, this will cause a dramatic change in the ecosystem and neither human society nor ecosystems are good at adapting to rapid change."

Williams says the public has an obligation help the river survive.

"It's not like the army corps of engineers just showed up and started thinking about building storm barriers, they were hired to do that and we voted for the people who hired them to do it. And we we need to make sure they understand this whole ecosystem."

No construction has started yet but American Rivers has called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consider alternative enviornmentally friendly solutions that will get the job done, but also not harm the river.