Category: Mississippi River

The Geology and Hydrology of the Mississippi Delta

Master WWW page Ellet, Charles. Report on the overflows of the delta of the Mississippi. AB Hamilton, 1852. Humphreys, A. A., & Abbot, H. L. (1861). Report upon the physics and hydraulics of the Mississippi river: Upon the protection of the alluvial…

Corps of Engineers systematically underestimates river flood risk

Robert E Criss, Statistics of evolving populations and their relevance to flood risk, Journal of Earth Science 1–7 (2016). ABSTRACT: Statistical methods are commonly used to evaluate natural populations and environmental variables, yet these must recognize temporal trends in population…

An Introduction to the Environmental Literature of the Mississippi Deltaic Plain Region

An Introduction to the Environmental Literature of the Mississippi Deltaic Plain Region This report is a review of selected environmental literature of the Mississippi Deltaic Plain Region . This review introduces some of the major ecosystem components and processes, describes…

Subsidence in coastal Louisiana: causes, rates, and effects on wetlands – 1983

Boesch, D. F., D. Levin, D. Nummedal, and K. Bowles. 1983. Subsidence in coastal Louisiana: causes, rates, and effects on wetlands. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Biological Services, Washington, DC. FWS/OBS-83/26. 30 pp. Summary Coastal wetlands are being…

Ocean Rise, Saltwater Intrusion, and the Future of Mississippi Navigation

As the level of the Mississippi falls this year, it allows saltwater to move up the channel: http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/07/saltwater_wedge_moving_up_the.html This will create problems if the river flow gets low enough to allow the salt water to reach the New Orleans drinking…

Old River Control Structure

This is the gate on the Mississippi/Red River confluence that is the source of the Achafalaya River. At the moment it is flowing at nearly 300,000 CPS. This is as much as Morganza with all the bays open, and three…

Morganza – too late, still too little?

Morganza is slowing being opened. The projected crests  downstream have been revised, but as the previous post illustrates, the projected crests still leave very high water from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. We can debate (and will) the Corps decision…

Water Levels in South Lousiana

The state has closed access to the levees all along the Mississippi. This makes getting pictures of the water level more difficult. This was taken on the West Levee opposite the old ferry landing in St. Francisville, LA. This is…

Playing Politics with Morganza?

Took a drive up to the Old River Control Structure and the Morganza Spillway on the 12th of May. I was curious about what is keeping the Corps from opening the spillway until the flow hits 1.5 M CFS. One…

The Mississippi River and Tributaries Project

The Mississippi River & Tributaries Project:Controlling the Flow – a description of the operation of the lower Mississippi flood control plan. (accessed May 8, 2011)

This is the Army Corps of Engineers explanation of the Mississippi River flood control system and how it would be used to control a flood. It details the the use of the floodways and the river flow levels that will trigger their use.[…]

Mississippi River Flood of 2011

At least as to river heights, the Flood of 2011 may be second or third largest Mississippi River Flood in modern times. Total volume of the flood is hard to compare because the river and the tributaries are more constrained than in the past. Water in a leveed river will be much higher than in a river without levees where it can spread out horizontally.

Projected flood heights – NOAA (Morganza floodway projections)[…]

Flood Risk from Opening the Morganza Floodway

Estimated Inundation Spring 2011 Flood Date: 06 May 2011 – Version 1, 06 May 2011 (EGIS Map ID No. 11-051-009)

Floodway into the Atchafalaya Basin saves New Orleans: Oliver Houck

“The Mississippi River is rising, the Army Corps of Engineers has just blown a controversial floodway levee north of Cairo, Ill., and the surge is coming downstream[…]

Mississippi Rising – The View from Baton Rouge

These pictures were taken on the levee at the intersection River Road and Stadium Drive in Baton Rouge. The normal river channel is out near the barges. Flood stage (where the river would top the banks if there was no…

Blowing the Mississippi Levee – 2011

This post reviews the ongoing legal issues in the blowing of the levee at Birds Point. While the levee has not been blown since 1937, this was also litigated in 1984.

Mississippi Flood History

The Mississippi Delta has always been defined by the sediment flow of the river and level of the ocean. Of these two, sediment flow is less important than ocean level – ocean level has varied more than 200 feet over…