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     Midlands rivers can raise concerns for a number of reasons ranging from safety to cleanliness and one environmental group says the Saluda River is on their list of places to watch.  The Saluda originates in the Blue Ridge Mountains and flows 200 miles southeast before joining with the Broad River to form the Congaree.  
     The Saluda River is a source of drinking water for more than a half million people and is one of the largest river basins in the Southeast.  Some say the Saluda has a list of problems to match its size.
     Julie Davis hits the water at least once a week, launching her boat several miles up the Saluda River and then ending her trip at the West Columbia Riverwalk.  She knows there's more than H20 carrying her on the way.
     "I think they need more people do something about it," says Davis of water pollution.  "Maybe act as watchdogs kind of and stay out on the river."
     Environmental advocates agree with Davis.
     "I feel that more and more people are aware of some of the issues and problems that are going on," says Matt Rice of the group American Rivers.
     Rice's agency recently listed the Saluda as the 6th most endangered river in the entire country due to sewage pollution.  The report says wastewater treatment plants along the upper Saluda near Lake Greenwood are dumping excessive phosphorus in the river, which can choke off oxygen to fish and wildlife, compromise drinking water and threaten a growing destination spot for recreation.
     "I really truly hope that as that grows and more and more people use and appreciate these rivers that the state really does start prioritizing and fixing some of these problems," says Rice.
     Rice says state regulators like DHEC shouldn't only focus on the upper Saluda because problems flow downstream to the Midlands and beyond.  Permits issued by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control spell out just how clean water discharged from plants must be, including phosphorus levels.  Several of the plants noted in the American Rivers report are up for permit renewal in the coming year, prompting the agency to ask regulators for change, specifically what they call "meaningful" regulations on phosphorus.
     "What's the worst possible scenario?  We look at that and we plan accordingly and we set standards," says Thom Berry of DHEC.  "The difficult part, if you will, is trying to balance protecting the environment, but yet at the same time allowing for responsible economic growth and development."
     American Rivers contends their call for change has everything to do with continued economic growth along all waterways, pointing to developments enjoyed by many like the riverwalk in the Columbia area.           

    "Just 10 years ago this was a very different place," says Matt Rice.  "There was no greenway.  You certainly wouldn't pay $1 million for a house on the river.  Now people are."