The ever-increasing exploitation of rivers has given rise to a variety of problems. Extensive commercial navigation of rivers has resulted in much artificial improvement of natural channels, including increasing the depth of the channels to permit passage of larger vessels. In some cases, this lowering of the river bottom has caused the water table of the surrounding area to drop, which has adversely affected agriculture. Also, canalization, with its extensive system of locks and navigation dams, often seriously disrupts riverine ecosystems. An even more far-reaching problem is that of water pollution. Pesticides and herbicides ... (100 of 35,658 words)Environmental problems attendant on river use
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Feluccas on the Nile River near Luxor in Upper Egypt.
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Huang He (Yellow River), northern China.
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Kananaskis River, Alberta, Canada.
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The Rio Grande flowing through the desert at the foot of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, Texas.
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Aerial view of the Amazon River in Brazil.
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The Three Gorges Dam spanning the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) near Yichang, Hubei province, China.
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Central Budapest, looking north along the Danube River, with the Parliament Building on the east bank.
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Commodity-carrying laker in the St. Lawrence Seaway at Montreal, Canada.
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Barge on the Rhine River, with vineyards in the background, at the town of Kaub, Germany.
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Hydroelectric power station on the Volkhov River at Volkhov, Russia.
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Faroese fish farm.
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A boy collecting plastic in a polluted river in Jakarta, Indonesia, 2007.
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A river in Sichuan province, China, polluted by a paper mill.
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The 6 October Bridge over the Nile River, Cairo, Egypt, with the central business district in the background.
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A barge traveling down the Mississippi River in Louisiana.
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Sagaing, Myanmar, on the Irrawaddy River.
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Bridge over the Yukon River at Carmacks, Yukon, Canada.
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Angel Falls, Canaima National Park, Venezuela.
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Devil’s Cataract, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
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Niagara Falls.
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Paulo Afonso Falls on the São Francisco River, Alagoas, Brazil.
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The former Guaíra Falls on the Upper Paraná River
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Iguaçu Falls on the Iguaçu River at the Argentina-Brazil border.
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Jog Falls, western Karnataka, India
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Yosemite Falls from Sentinel Meadow, Yosemite National Park, California.
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Horseshoe Falls, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
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American Falls, Niagara Falls State Park, Niagara Falls, New York.
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Pakistanis taking shelter on higher ground after an Indus River flood, near Thatta, Sindh province, Pakistan, August 2010.
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The Colorado River in Marble Canyon at the northeastern end of Grand Canyon National Park, northwestern Arizona.
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Estuary of the River Erme, Cornwall, Eng.
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Eastern floodplains of the Caprivi Strip, Namibia.
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Formation of a waterfall in Iceland.