The Mississippi River System, also referred to as the Western Rivers, is a mostly riverine network of the United States which includes the Mississippi River and connecting waterways. The Mississippi River is the largest drainage basin in the United States.

From the perspective of natural geography and hydrology, the system consists of the Mississippi River itself and its numerous natural tributaries and distributaries. The major tributaries are the Illinois, Missouri, Ohio and Red rivers.

Before the Mississippi River reaches the Gulf of Mexico, it runs into its distributary, the Atchafalaya River.

Important connecting waterways include the Illinois Waterway, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. is maintained by the U.S.

The Mississippi River carries 60% of U.S. grain shipments, 22% of oil and gas shipments, and 20% of coal.

The Upper Mississippi River spans around 1,250 miles (2,010 km) from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to Cairo, Illinois. Most of the Upper Mississippi goes through the center of the Driftless Area, around 15,000 sq mi (39,000 km2) in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois that has managed to stay free of glacial flows covering the past two million years.

The bottom of the river is composed of a thin layer of clay, silt, loam, and sand, which lay above a stratum of glacial outwash.

About 850 miles (1,370 km) of the river is navigable from Minneapolis-St. Paul (specifically, the Coon Rapids Dam in the City of Coon Rapids, MN) to the Ohio River.

The Arkansas River is one of the major tributaries in the Mississippi River system. It flows west to east starting in Colorado and dumping into the Mississippi River.

It is the sixth-longest river in the US, the second-longest tributary to the Mississippi River System, and the 45th longest river in the world.

The river runs approximately 273 miles (439 km) long, in the U.S. state of Illinois.

The Illinois River meets the Mississippi at Pere Marquette State Park, which is near Grafton. The confluence of the rivers offers vistas that seem endless.

The Illinois River is relatively shallow, just like the Mississippi. In addition, the Illinois River is a “managed” river, just as the Mississippi River is.

The Missouri River is a long stream that originates in southwest Montana and flows southeasterly for 2,522 miles (4,059 km). passing through six states before finally entering the Mississippi River at St.

The Missouri River is the longest river on the North American continent. The Missouri River was one of the main routes for the westward expansion of the United States during the 19th century.

The Ohio River runs 981 miles (1582 km) long, starting at the meeting of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ending in Cairo, Illinois, where it then flows into the Mississippi.

The river has the capacity to provide enough water for over five million people. It is one mile wide at Smithland dam, the widest point of the river.

from its origin point to Cincinnati, it averages approximately 27 feet (8.2 m) before deepening to a maximum 168 feet (51 m) near Louisville, Kentucky.[citation needed] These deeper waters allows multiple species of fish to thrive.

The depth also allows for commerce throughout the river on barges. On average the Ohio River transports over 230 million tons of cargo.

These resources account for 70% of the cargo. Along with shipping energy resources, the Ohio River also creates energy with dams and other power-generating facilities.

The Red River of the South is the 10th longest river in the United States with a length of 1,290 miles (2,080 km). It originates right outside of the Rocky Mountains and stretches through multiple states with the main portion of it located in Texas.

The Red River is mostly surrounded by rural farm land with the only surrounding major cities being Shreveport, Louisiana and Alexandria, Louisiana. The Red River is home to many oil fields with oil and gas production being one of the river’s major aspects.

The Mississippi River Delta was created from thousands of years of sand, clay and organic material being deposited by the Mississippi River into the northern parts of the Gulf of Mexico. The delta is home to massive amounts of wildlife, and attributed to the U.S.

Over the last three centuries, the delta has continuously collapsed, due to human alterations of the river system. Natural protection of land is exacerbated the more the delta diminishes.

If the land loss continues at the pace it is going, all these benefits can vanish.

It spans 170 miles (270 km), making it one of the longest distributaries of the Mississippi River. The name of the river translated into English is “long river,” which derives from the Native American word.

The Old River Control Structure diverts a portion of the flow of the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya River. The diversion is regulated to allow 30% of the combined flow of the Mississippi and Red Rivers to pass down the Atchafalaya River with the remaining flow continuing down the Mississippi River.

The river system has always played a pivotal role in the lives of those who inhabit the surrounding area. Several different Native American groups lived in the surrounding area, including the Ojibwa, Ho-Chunk, Meskwaki, and Choctaw Native Americans.

They named the Mississippi River. It was used for assisting with agriculture, gathering fish, and trading with others.

The majority of natives to the river area were hunters and gatherers. The largest users of the rivers were the civilization today referred to as the Mound Builders, which created major farming settlements along the rivers.

It is unknown as to why earth mounds were constructed, but there is speculation that they possibly were used for religious and ceremonial purposes.

Civil War. Mark Twain is regarded as having a large impact on molding U.S.

Today, the Mississippi River System, along with its connecting tributaries, is primarily used for transporting agricultural and manufactured goods across the span of the country. Among these goods is iron, steel, and mine products.

The most common form of cargo transportation on the system is by tugboats pushing along large barges.

economy. It accounts for 92% of the nation’s agricultural exports and 78% of the world’s feed grains and soybeans.

like the Port of South Louisiana and The Port of New Orleans.

Some common things that are shipped include petroleum, iron, steel, grain, rubber, paper, wood, coffee, coal, chemicals, and edible oils.

The Missouri meets the Mississippi—then and now.

That’s the stream … Continue reading still contributes its tint, and something of its personality, to the Mississippi a few miles north of St. Louis.

Diesel-powered towboats drive long strings of barges back and forth between Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and some begin up the Missouri as far as Sioux City, Iowa. Cargoes include petroleum and related products, coal and coke, iron and steel, chemicals, grain, sand and gravel, and sulfur.

Wood River, which lent its name to the Corps of Discovery’s cantonment of the winter of 1803-1804, is out of sight, somewhere at upper right. Missouri and Mississippi River Confluence.

To see labels, point to the image.

reduced to 85%. The Missouri River Commission (MRC) was established by Congress in about 1884 to direct a methodical development of control measures to assure a clear, hazard-free channel, with a consistent minimum depth, to facilitate the increasing river commerce.

They now serve as important documents in the historiography of westward expansion, as well as for the study of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Gary Moulton has cited them frequently in his 13-volume edition of the Journals (see link at the bottom of this and all other pages in Discovering Lewis & Clark®).

It is difficult to determine exactly how much, and how often, the confluence of the Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers changed during the nine decades since the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s departure from Camp Dubois. William Clark‘s 1814 map (below), which accompanied Nicholas Biddle‘s paraphrase of the two captains’ journals.

However, a comparison of the two suggests that by the end of the 19th century the mouth of the Missouri had moved approximately 2½ miles south of its 1803—1804 location. The unnamed island on which Clark and the Corps of Discovery camped on the night of 14 May 1804, is impossible to identify in the MRC map, but Cora Island is still in existence.

Louis called Spanish Lake. Camp Belle Fontaine.

American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia. Camp Belle Fontaine, the first U.S.

It was established on the site of an old Spanish cantonment called Fort Bellefontaine, from the nearby spring (fontaine) of pure (belle) water. A “factory”—that is, a trading post—was built there too, to serve the Sac and Fox tribes (note the boundary line at left).

Louis. Captain Clark reported that they were “honored with a Salute of Guns and a harty welcome.”.

The trading post was closed in 1808, and part of its inventory was transferred to Fort Osage, some 100 miles farther up the Missouri. After the Missouri River flooded the Columbia Bottoms in the spring of 1810, the camp was rebuilt on the bluff to the southwest, consisting of thirty log buildings plus blockhouses and palisades.

It was abandoned in 1826, when the military quarters were moved to Jefferson Barracks, south of St. Louis.

(New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1905), 5:392n. St.

The site is now Fort Belle Fontaine Park, under the administration of the government of St. Louis County.

National Park Service. The site, near Hartford, Illinois, is managed as Lewis and Clark State Historic Site and is open to the public.

National Park Service. Located about twenty miles north of St.

Louis County Park with several buildings and a stone staircase from its current location on a bluff down to the original location on the river. Notes[+].

1 Where the Missouri River Meets the Mississippi River Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park. 2 Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park is a Missouri state park located on the north side of the Missouri River at its confluence with the Mississippi River, approximately 8 miles north of the St.

The park was opened May 9, 2004, and includes 1,118 acres (4.5 km²) of shoreline and bottomland. The Park is part of the Confluence Greenway.

5 Mississippi River Watershed. 6.

11 Monument to the Great Flood of 1993 in the park. The flag says the water reached the top of the pole and was 438.2 feet.

The Mississippi is on the left and Missouri on the right.

15 When the water is high. 16.

When someone asks you what the longest river in the United States is, you might immediately think of the Mississippi River. It’s a common mistake, as the Mississippi River is one of the most renowned rivers in the country.

However, the Mississippi River isn’t the longest in the United States. Instead, the Missouri River holds this title.

It had a significant impact on American society in the past, and it continues to do so now. The Missouri River watershed supports at least one-fourth of U.S.

Given the river’s famously lengthy route, one question remains: how deep is the Missouri River. This article will discuss the river’s depth, length, wildlife, and other facts.

Despite its relatively shallow and variable depth, the Missouri is a fast-flowing river because of the sheer volume of water that flows through it. This combination can make swimming or boating in Missouri extremely treacherous, as it is easy to get bogged down in hidden mud.

©iStock.com/Matthew Howieson. The Missouri River channel is around 10 to 20 feet deep on average, depending on the area.

It is estimated that some of its deeper areas can reach depths up to 150 feet. However, this river connects and combines with another (the Mississippi River), becoming one of the world’s largest flowing systems.

Because there is a large amount of sand and water-soaked gravel beneath the surface, the average depth of this water is shallow compared to other rivers in the country. Swimming in the Missouri River is dangerous due to fluctuating levels of sandbars, boulders, holes, and fast-moving currents.

The river is frequently more predictable when the peaks of these objects are out of the water. The quicker water will be found in the channel, whereas the slower water will be located behind or directly downstream of the rock structures.

Paddlers should familiarize themselves with the impact of river levels on the segment they plan to kayak. Each segment of the river is unique, and tributary inflow has a significant impact on local river levels.

Keep in mind, though, that the Missouri River can rise quickly and wash away your sandbar. Avoid camping on a sandbar without considering how a river rise would affect your circumstances.

©ZakZeinert/Shutterstock.com. The simple answer is yes.

With an average discharge rate of 86,300 cfs, the Missouri River is ranked tenth among the country’s fastest rivers. This river drains a semi-arid, sparsely populated watershed that encompasses portions of eleven U.S.

The Missouri River flows through areas of the U.S. and Canada.

The Missouri River flows through seven states in the United States and two provinces in Canada. It travels 2,341 miles across the U.S.

It travels through Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota, beginning in Montana and ending in St. Louis.

The Missouri River starts in Three Forks, Montana, at the confluence of three major rivers: Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin, and ends in St. Louis, Missouri.

Louis is where the river meets the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River originates in Minnesota and flows through the Midwest until it reaches the Missouri River in Missouri.

About a hundred miles south of New Orleans, the mouth opens into the Gulf of Mexico. The Missouri River begins in Gallatin County in southwestern Montana.

The Missouri River has its origins in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Montana, which were formed during the Laramide Orogeny, a mountain-building event that occurred around 50-70 million years ago. This orogeny caused the Western Interior Seaway — a large sea stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico — to recede, leaving behind the sediment that now makes up the Missouri River’s drainage basin.

Native Americans used the river for trade, transportation, and commerce while pioneers traversed along its banks, looking to settle new lands on their way westward. Many battles were fought over control of this important waterway during US history as several states wanted access to it.

Its importance cannot be understated both historically and today as it continues to serve an invaluable purpose for those who live near or use it for shipping purposes. Many fish species, such as sturgeon, swim in the depths of the Missouri River.

More than 25 different species of wildlife can be found along the Missouri River. It is home to large mammalian species, such as the American bison, and the grizzly bear, and others, like foxes, black bears, and coyotes.

There are numerous varieties of fish and amphibians found in the river. Frogs, toads, and one species of salamander are among the ten amphibian species discovered in the Missouri National Recreational River.

This river is home to a wide variety of fish species, including the most popular crappie, trout, sturgeon, bass, bluegill, longnose gar, carp, paddlefish, sunfish, alligator gar, catfish, and other big fish. On rare occasions, bull sharks have swum from the Gulf of Mexico up the Mississippi River and via the Missouri River.

Louis, Missouri, a landlocked state with no sharks.

The imperiled Piping Plover endangered Interior Tern, and spectacular American Bald Eagle are among the MNRR’s most renowned bird species. Despite the changes along the Missouri River over the last two centuries, reptiles still roam its land and waters.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © ZakZeinert/Shutterstock.com. Enter your email in the box below to get the most mind-blowing animal stories and videos delivered directly to your inbox every day.

The Missouri River is the longest river in the United States. Rising in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitteroot Range of the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Montana, the Missouri flows east and south for 2,341 miles (3,767 km) before entering the Mississippi River north of St.

The river drains semi-arid watershed of more than 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 km2), which includes parts of ten U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.

When combined with the lower Mississippi River, it forms the world’s fourth-longest river system.

More than ten major groups of Native Americans populated the watershed, most leading a nomadic lifestyle and dependent on enormous bison herds that roamed through the Great Plains. The first Europeans encountered the river in the late seventeenth century, and the region passed through Spanish and French hands before becoming part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase.

The Missouri River was one of the main routes for the westward expansion of the United States during the 19th century. The growth of the fur trade in the early 19th century laid much of the groundwork as trappers explored the region and blazed trails.

Conflict between settlers and Native Americans in the watershed led to some of the most longstanding and violent of the American Indian Wars.

Fifteen dams impound the main stem of the river, with hundreds more on tributaries. Meanders have been cut off and the river channelized to improve navigation, reducing its length by almost 200 miles (320 km) from pre-development times.

From the Rocky Mountains, three streams rise to form the headwaters of the Missouri River:. The Missouri River officially starts at the confluence of the Jefferson and Madison in Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three Forks, Montana, and is joined by the Gallatin a mile (1.6 km) downstream.

Issuing from the mountains near Cascade, the river flows northeast to the city of Great Falls, where it drops over the Great Falls of the Missouri, a series of five substantial waterfalls. It then winds east through a scenic region of canyons and badlands known as the Missouri Breaks, receiving the Marias River from the west then widening into the Fort Peck Lake reservoir a few miles above the confluence with the Musselshell River.

Flowing eastward through the plains of eastern Montana, the Missouri receives the Poplar River from the north before crossing into North Dakota where the Yellowstone River, its greatest tributary by volume, joins from the southwest. At the confluence, the Yellowstone is actually the larger river.[a] The Missouri then meanders east past Williston and into Lake Sakakawea, the reservoir formed by Garrison Dam.

It slows into the Lake Oahe reservoir just before the Cannonball River confluence. While it continues south, eventually reaching Oahe Dam in South Dakota, the Grand, Moreau and Cheyenne Rivers all join the Missouri from the west.

The Missouri makes a bend to the southeast as it winds through the Great Plains, receiving the Niobrara River and many smaller tributaries from the southwest. It then proceeds to form the boundary of South Dakota and Nebraska and is joined by the James River from the north.

It flows south to the city of Omaha where it receives its longest tributary, the Platte River, from the west. Downstream, it begins to define the border between the states of Nebraska and Missouri, then flows between the states of Missouri and Kansas.

To the east of Kansas City, the Missouri receives, on the left side, the Grand River. It passes south of Columbia and receives the Osage and Gasconade Rivers from the south downstream of Jefferson City.

Louis to join the Mississippi River on the border between Missouri and Illinois.

a river that goes traveling sidewise, that interferes in politics, rearranges geography, and dabbles in real estate. a river that plays hide and seek with you today and tomorrow follows you around like a pet dog with a dynamite cracker tied to his tail.

With a drainage basin spanning 529,350 square miles (1,371,000 km2), the Missouri River’s catchment encompasses nearly one-sixth of the area of the United States or just over five percent of the continent of North America.

Louis, and as much as 70 percent in certain droughts.

This included the entire population of the U.S. state of Nebraska, parts of the U.S.

The watershed’s largest city is Denver, Colorado, with a population of more than six hundred thousand. Denver is the main city of the Front Range Urban Corridor whose cities had a combined population of over four million in 2005, making it the largest metropolitan area in the Missouri River basin.

Kansas City, Missouri – Kansas City, Kansas, at the confluence of the Missouri with the Kansas River. and the St.

In contrast, the northwestern part of the watershed is sparsely populated. However, many northwestern cities, such as Billings, Montana, are among the fastest growing in the Missouri basin.

With more than 170,000 square miles (440,000 km2) under the plow, the Missouri River watershed includes roughly one-fourth of all the agricultural land in the United States, providing more than a third of the country’s wheat, flax, barley, and oats. However, only 11,000 square miles (28,000 km2) of farmland in the basin is irrigated.

Forested areas of the watershed, mostly second-growth, total about 43,700 square miles (113,000 km2). Urban areas, on the other hand, comprise less than 13,000 square miles (34,000 km2) of land.

Elevations in the watershed vary widely, ranging from just over 400 feet (120 m) at the Missouri’s mouth to the 14,293-foot (4,357 m) summit of Mount Lincoln in central Colorado. The river drops 8,626 feet (2,629 m) from Brower’s Spring, the farthest source.

The elevation is less than 500 feet (150 m) at the eastern border of the watershed, but is over 3,000 feet (910 m) above sea level in many places at the base of the Rockies.

Most of the watershed receives an average of 8 to 10 inches (200 to 250 mm) of precipitation each year. However, the westernmost portions of the basin in the Rockies as well as southeastern regions in Missouri may receive as much as 40 inches (1,000 mm).

The Mississippi River is like a chameleon along Great Rivers Scenic Route. Depending on weather conditions, sun angles, and the color of the sky, the waters can turn from serene pale blue to dark navy to muddy brown.

Often, the river is glasslike, creating a mirror of the sky above. The blue is sweet and clear, and the reflections of the bluffs and trees are remarkable.

The meandering curves of the river provide amazing views, and you can see up and down the river for miles. The bluffs, which are imposing when immediately adjacent to the road, diminish into the far horizon at several viewing areas.

Most think of the Mississippi as a southbound river that cuts up and down the center of the nation. This is not true here.

In Alton, Elsah, and Grafton, the sun rises and sets in the long stretch of water. On many evenings at dusk, the fiery reds, yellows, and oranges run nearly the entire length of the river.

Advertisement. Along the road to Eldred, the bluffs give way to rolling hills, farms, and forests.

The apples and peaches in Jersey, Calhoun, and Greene Counties are legendary. In Eldred, an old-fashioned Illinois town full of Americana, most travelers stop for a slice of pie and get out to smell the crisp, fresh air.

Soon the road branches westward, and the journey ends with another free ferry over the Illinois River into Kampsville. This byway is a must-see destination during all four seasons.

Summer brings festivals, fairs, and river recreation. Autumn hosts the Fall Color Caravan and some of America’s most amazing foliage, accented by the nearby rivers.

The rivers, majestic bluffs, fantastic trees and wildlife, quaint villages, and rolling farmlands all make this byway a wonderful adventure. This must-see tour of the Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Route begins at the northernmost point (Kampsville) and concludes at the southernmost point (Alton).

Take the free ferry ride (drive east on Highway 108 approximately five miles to Eldred), and go to the home of the American Center for Archaeology, which is the site of Old Settlers Days with Lewis and Clark and Civil War and other reenactments. Eldred: Eldred is a wonderful village in Greene County at Highway 108 and Blacktop Road.

Turn south onto Blacktop Road. Drive approximately 15 miles to the intersection of Blacktop Road, Highway 100, and Highway 16.

Drive approximately ten miles south to Pere Marquette State Park. Pere Marquette State Park: This park is in Jersey County on Route 100.

Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy the park’s nature trails, prehistoric sites, horseback riding, camping, fishing, boating, and hiking. The park also has a wonderful lodge built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Continue southward out of Pere Marquette State Park onto Highway 100. Drive approximately three miles to Brussells Ferry.

Nearby is the Mark Twain Wildlife Refuge, the seasonal home for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds including American bald eagles, herons, owls, pelicans, geese, ducks, and many rare species. Grafton: Grafton is on Highway 100 in Jersey County.

Bed-and-breakfasts, inns, antiques and specialty shops, casual family dining, riverside entertainment, summer outdoor family amphitheater, a small museum, a visitor center, parasailing, jet skiing, pontoon boats, fishing, hunting, hiking, bike trails, cottages, horseback riding, a mystery dinner theater, and more can be found in Grafton.

Continue southbound approximately a half mile to the bluffs running along the Mississippi River. Scenic Bluffs: Without question, the most spectacular view along this route is from just outside Grafton, approximately 15 miles northwest of Alton.

The Mississippi is alive with commercial traffic, sailboats, and wildlife, in contrast to the majestic bluffs overhead. Any time is good viewing, but late afternoon and sunset are very rewarding.

Try to remain in your car to photograph the scenery. Also exercise caution because of many bicyclists and fast-moving traffic at all times.

Be prepared to make an abrupt northward turn. Elsah: Elsah is considered by many national travel writers as the river town that time forgot.

Because the town has almost no contemporary structures, you immediately feel as if you have been transported back into the mid-1800s. Bed-and-breakfasts and small shops abound.

Cliffton Terrace Park: This roadside park features picnic facilities, seasonal wildlife viewing, and a playground. Continue eastbound onto Highway 100 about five miles to the legendary Piasa Bird.

Piasa Bird: This mythical creature was seen by American Indian nations and early European explorers. Today, a gigantic bluff painting depicts the half-dragon, half-cat creature.

Continue southeasterly about one mile on Highway 100, and enter Alton. Alton: The community dates to the early 1800s as a major river port just north of St.

Continue eastbound on Highway 100, going approximately three miles. Turn north into the Melvin Price Locks and Dam Complex and National Great Rivers Museum site.

This colossal structure tames the mighty river and aids in flood control and navigation. A wonderful riverfront walkway surrounds the dam and museum.

It offers a wonderful view of the Alton skyline and Clark Bridge. With the confluence of three major rivers, there is an abundance of activity.

Find more useful information related to Illinois’ Great Rivers Scenic Route: The historic town of has a solid Midwestern appeal.

The tallest man in history, Robert Wadlow, called home. Also, spanning the Mississippi River at is the famous Clark Bridge, a suspension marvel that was featured in a two-hour PBS Nova documentary entitled “Super Bridge.” It is a beautiful structure that proves that intelligent and compassionate engineers can marry function and form.

During the Civil War, thousands of Confederate soldiers were held at the Federal Penitentiary. today, a solemn monument and cemetery honors the dead.

The city has unique casual and fine restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts, inns, hotels, an antique shopping district, a shopping mall, parks, riverboat gaming, and other leisure activities throughout the year. Advertisement.

Water levels along the Mississippi River are plummeting for the second year in a row after this summer’s blistering heat and low rainfall triggered extreme drought across parts of the Central US.

The drought comes as a critical harvest season approaches and farmers across the Midwest are concerned about water supply and barge deliveries. Officials and residents along the river worry about the widespread impacts another decline could bring.

Every water level gauge along a nearly 400-mile stretch of the Mississippi from the Ohio River to Jackson, Mississippi, is at or below the low-water threshold, according data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and US Geological Survey.

The same stretch of the river experienced record-low water levels last year in October, which brought major impacts on farming communities and barge traffic during the critical harvest period, where staple Midwestern crops including soybeans, corn and wheat are transported down the river.

“We get a little reprieve, and then it’s warm and dry,” Wellenkamp told CNN. “We really haven’t ever totally climbed out of the drought from last fall for the whole river yet.”.

This year has so far been the hottest on record for Louisiana and Mississippi, according to recent figures from NOAA dating through August.

“Those four states have really been significantly impacted by drought since last winter, it’s just ongoing,” Wellenkamp said.

Tower Rock juts out of the Mississippi River in Perry County, south of St. Louis and around 25 miles north of Cape Girardeau.

Water levels at the gauge were near zero as of September 20, with no improvement forecast in the near term.

“Previous to last year, it was probably only accessible once or twice in the last decade,” Steve Schell, a natural history biologist at the Missouri Department of Conservation, told CNN.

They urged people to schedule a visit at a later date, but said they were unaware when the work would be completed.

“Part of the consequences of low water, is there are not a lot of places you can put a boat in on the river anymore,” Schell said. “All of those places are dry, and the only place they have right now is south of Cape Girardeau.

As water levels drop, the threat of saltwater intrusion is growing in Louisiana as ocean water pushes north into drinking water systems, unimpeded by the Mississippi’s normally mighty flow rate.

John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency for Plaquemines Parish in July as saltwater began to impact drinking water systems there, and the US Army Corps of Engineers built a 1,500-foot-wide underwater levee south of New Orleans to prevent it from pushing even farther north.

Keith Hinkley said at a news conference that clean water was being distributed to around 2,000 residents who were impacted by the saltwater intrusion. The Army Corps also announced plans at the same news conference to make the levee larger.

“Based off the current forecast, and if no action is taken, you could potentially see the saltwater wedge all the way up to the French Quarter,” Cullen Jones, commander of the Army Corps’ New Orleans District office, said at a news conference on Friday.

The treacherously low river has been impeding hundreds of barges and vessels from passing through — and it is also causing the cost of transporting some of the harvest to soar.

“And so you’re not putting as much product into one barge. The barge will move on, and it’s gotta go back again — all of this eats up a lot of fuel and eats up a lot of time.”.

There are also signs that drought and low water levels get worse in the Upper Midwest as El Nino strengthens in the Pacific Ocean, said Jonathan T. Overpeck, dean of the school for environment and sustainability at the University of Michigan.

“This is heat that has already been trapped in the system due to climate change,” Overpeck told CNN.

“These conditions will only become more frequent, if we don’t phase out fossil fuels,” Overpeck said. “It’s cooking the planet and we’re seeing the impacts unfold in the Mississippi River right now.”.

Today we’re going to be learning about the longest river in America, the Missouri River. Research suggests that the Missouri river formed nearly 30 million years ago.

The water flow of the Missouri River is regulated by the U.S. army corps of engineers.

It has also been impounded in its northern regions by at least six dams. So, where exactly does this historical river start.

The Missouri River starts in the Rocky Mountains. ©iStock.com/bobloblaw.

It flows 2,342 miles across the United States, stopping in Missouri. It drains 1/6 of the United States and flows east and south.

Missouri River has an average depth of 10 to 20 feet. ©iStock.com/Matthew Howieson.

It is said that some of its deeper parts can range anywhere from 120 ft to 150 ft. However, this river meets and merges with another river that creates one of the biggest flowing systems in the world.

Even though the average depth of this water is not very deep, this is because there is a vast amount of sand and water-soaked gravel beneath the surface. The varying levels of sandbars, rocks, holes, and fast-moving currents make it unsafe for people to swim in the Missouri River.

The Missouri River runs through 7 different US states and two Canadian provinces. Starting in Montana, its 2,342 mi journey then flows through:

The Mississippi River joins the Missouri River at St Louis. ©iStock.com/Willard.

It flows southeast from Montana to Missouri. The Mississippi River starts in Minnesota and runs all the way down the Midwest until it meets the Missouri River in the state of Missouri.

The mouth then opens into the Gulf of Mexico, about a hundred miles south of New Orleans.

Louis, Missouri, where it meets the Mississippi River. Major cities along the river include: Great Falls in Montana, North Dakota’s capital city Bismarck, South Dakota’s capital Pierre, Sioux City and Council Bluffs in Iowa, Omaha in Nebraska, Kansas City — Kansas and Missouri, and Saint Joseph, Jefferson City (Missouri’s capital), and Saint Charles in Missouri.

It follows the Yangtze which is 3,964 miles and the third-largest, while the Amazon comes second at 4,000 miles. First position goes to the Nile with a length of 4,160 miles.

©iStock.com/mpwoodib. The Missouri River is home to more than 25 distinct species of wildlife.

This river is also a pathway for many different species of birds, most importantly the American bald eagle. You can even find more than 12 different types of snakes and turtles along the river.

It also hosts many different species of small mammals such as mice, squirrels, and prairie dogs.

This river is a habitat for many varied species of fish, the most popular being the bluegill, crappie, trout, and catfish. On rare occasions, bull sharks have swum from the Gulf of Mexico, up the Mississippi through the Missouri River.

Inside the walls of Fort Union Trading Post, the dominant fur trading post on the Upper Missouri River, North Dakota. ©iStock.com/chamey.

Before many European settlers came to America, native American tribes traveled and formed all along the Missouri River. However, it became notorious long after English settlers and other European settlers came to North America.

When the Lewis and Clark expedition began in 1804, two men traveled throughout the Missouri River. They went from St Louis all the way up until they discovered the Pacific Northwest.

The Missouri River may be the longest-running river in America, but it is also the river that has the most vivid backstory. After all, it is the river that separated the English colonies from the Westlands previously owned by the French.

This river has been used as a source of water, food, and drainage for centuries, long before humans. It is one of the most viable and important rivers in North America and continues to fascinate people to this day.

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Contents. They described the Milk River as “possessing a peculiar whiteness, being about the colour of a cup of tea with the admixture of milk.”.

He wondered if it always sought the lowest ground, or was his mind such a shambles that he assumed there was a reason behind its constant shifting.

The Milk River Joins the Missouri.

Millions of years ago the valley of the river Lewis and Clark named Milk was part of the main channel of the Missouri. In this photo, taken a month or so later than the one below, it writhes through its ancient bed, a pitiful trickle of its original self, still contributing its rich murk to “The Big Muddy.”.

Every turn furthers its languorous descent to mingle with the Missouri River. In the six straight-line statute miles from the upper left to the lower right corner of the image, the river meanders for 26.5 miles toward all points of the compass, falling only five feet, inch by merest inch.

“About one hundred fifty miles on a direct line, a little to the N. of West [from the mouth of the Yellowstone], a river falls in on the N.

The copyist who first edited Joseph Whitehouse‘s journal, inserting his personal … Continue reading. This river they state to be of considerable size, and from it’s position and the direction which they give it, we believe it to be the channel through which those small streams on the E side of the Rocky Mountain, laid down by Mr.

It was pure hearsay in its … Continue reading, pas to the Missouri. It takes it’s source in the Rocky mountains S.

They arrived at its mouth on May 8, 1805, and stopped “in a handsome bottom” for lunch: I took the advantage of this leasure moment and examined the river about 3 miles.

it is deep, gentle in it’s courant, and affords a large boddy of water. it’s banks, which are formed of a dark rich loam and blue clay, are abbrupt and about 12 feet high.

I have no doubt but it is navigable for boats perogues and canoes, for the latter probably a great distance. the bottoms of this stream are wide, level, fertile and possess a considerable proportion of timber, principally Cottonwood.

perhaps this river also might furnish a practicable and advantageous communication with the Saskashiwan river. it is sufficiently large to justify a belief that it might reach to that river if it’s direction be such.

© 2000 Jim Wark, Airphoto. The confluence of the Milk River (left) and the Missouri, looking downstream (eastward).

At right are fringes of the Milk River Hills. Lewis was particularly impressed by the color of this stream the Hidatsas explained was the principal northern source of the Missouri.

In any case, the reason for its hue is that it drains a broad valley containing weathered, silty glacial till and shale, as well as sand, and passes through a layer of white clay within its middle reaches. Returning downriver, Lewis paused for a few minutes at the mouth of the Milk again on 4 August 1806.

It affords as much water at present as Maria’s river, and I have no doubt extends itself to a considerable distance North.” Gass, too, noted that it “was very high and the current strong.”.

They looked it over carefully, as far as they could see. Clark climbed to “a very high point opposite to the mouth of this river”—probably today’s Deadman Butte, in the Milk River Hills.

Capt C. could not be certain but thought he saw the smoke [from] some Indian lodges at a considrable distance up Milk river.” Lewis stiffened, groped for a respectful euphemism, and settled on the one he used for grizzly bears and wolves.

The Milk River begins 732 miles (1,178.5 km) west of its confluence with the Missouri, in the shadow of the Rocky Mountain Front, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation near Glacier National Park. River Mile Index of the Missouri River (Water Resources Division, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, 1979), p.

Since 1921, with the help of human engineering, it has drawn part of its water from the park’s large Lake Sherbourne, which nature originally designed to empty into Hudson’s Bay via the Belly River. The objective was to provide a backup source of water to supply the elaborate irrigation system during dry late summer months.

A detailed description and history of the … Continue reading The Milk flows northeast across the International Boundary south of Lethbridge, Alberta, and returns to Montana 200 miles downstream, northwest of Havre (HAVE-er). A short distance upstream from Havre, Fresno Dam impounds a reservoir from which irrigation water is distributed to 120,000 acres of alfalfa, wheat, barley, and other crops along the Lower Milk River.

In the six straight-line statute miles from the upper left to the lower right corner of the image, the river meanders for 26.5 miles toward all points of the compass, falling only five feet, inch by merest inch. Desolate.

There was never a country that in its good moments was more beautiful. Even in drouth or dust storm or blizzard it is the reverse of monotonous, once you have submitted to it with all the senses.

You don’t escape sky and sun, but wear them in your eyeballs and on your back. You become acutely aware of yourself.

But also the world is flat, empty, nearly abstract, and in its flatness, you are a challenging upright thing, as sudden as an exclamation mark, as enigmatic as a question mark. —Wallace Stegner Wallace Stegner, “The Question Mark in the Circle,” from Wolf Willow: A History, a Story, and a Memory of the Last Plains Frontier (New York: Viking Press, 1955), 8.

by John Mix Stanley (1814–1872).

Lithograph, 8.25 by 8.875 inches. From 1853 until 1855, Isaac Ingalls Stevens (1818-1862), who recently had been named Governor of the new Washington Territory, led a government-sponsored overland expedition to find the best route for a railroad across the northwestern United States from Minnesota to Puget Sound, between 47° and 49° North Latitude.

Also like the first expedition, the ultimate goal was to control commerce between the eastern and western boundaries of the Pacific Ocean. Leaving Minneapolis, Minnesota, in June 1853, he arrived in what is now northeastern Montana in mid-August.

Encamped on the Milk river, 16 miles being the day’s march. Here we determined to remain a day to prepare charcoal for the blacksmith, and to make observations for the geographical position of its mouth, which is considered a very important point in the survey.

The longest river in North America formed in response to both Laurentide ice sheet glaciation and to glaciation of the Rocky Mountains. The Missouri is the longest river in the US – North America.

The headwaters of the Missouri are located where the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers meet, in the Rocky Mountains, in Montana, 1,200 metres above sea level. It flows into the Mississippi river as its main tributary, 16 kilometres from the city of St.

The Missouri is 3,943 kilometres long. If we consider the Mississippi-Missouri river system, the total length would increase to 7,725 kilometres, forming the world’s fourth longest river, after the Amazon, Nile and Yangtze rivers.

For thousands of years, the Missouri has been home to Native Americans. The first Europeans to discover the river were explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet in 1673.

During the 19th century, steam boat traffic increased until 1858, when it started to decline. In 1944, the US Congress approved a programme for irrigation development, flood control, and hydropower generation.

Here, we’ve rounded up National Park Service sites and other federally protected places along the river. Visitors can hike, camp and fish in some, taking in the sweeping beauty of the river valley.

The Mississippi River watershed. What national parks, monuments and other spots are on the Mississippi River.

The Mississippi River flows through 2,350 miles of America’s heartland to the Gulf of Mexico. It provides habitat for hundreds of fish and wildlife species, charts the course of millions of tons of goods exported from the U.S.

It’s facing big environmental challenges: nitrate and phosphorus pollution, forest loss, invasive species and prolonged and excessive flooding, to name a few. But it could also provide nature-based solutions to some of those problems, as scientists, politicians and citizens learn more about what can be done to protect it.

Where does the Mississippi River start and finish.

At just 18 feet wide, it’s easy to walk across. It flows hundreds of miles across Minnesota, including through the Twin Cities, before it reaches the Wisconsin border.

Louis, Memphis and New Orleans. The river ends about 100 miles downstream from New Orleans, where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

What are the Mississippi River tributaries.

How big is the Mississippi River basin.

In other words, any drop of rain or snow that falls across a large part of the country ends up in the Mississippi. It includes 31 states — some fully and some partially — and two Canadian provinces.

Industry and agriculture have both played a role in polluting the river, resulting in what’s known as the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico — a massive area where nutrient pollution chokes off oxygen for fish and plants. Is the Mississippi River the longest river in the United States.

The Mississippi River flows about 2,350 miles, according to the National Park Service. The Missouri River flows about 100 miles longer, making it America’s longest river.

Louis, where it meets the Mississippi. Both rivers’ lengths can change slightly as their deltas grow or shrink from sedimentation or erosion.

Is it one of the longest rivers in the world.

By that measure, the river is the fourth-longest in the world, behind the Nile, the Amazon and the Yangtze rivers. By volume, the Mississippi River is the 15th-largest in the world.

Where is the Mississippi River deepest.

That’s a far cry from its depth at the headwaters, which is about 18 inches, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Do people drink from the Mississippi River.

The river provides drinking water for almost 20 million people in more than 50 municipalities, according to the environmental advocacy group American Rivers. Is the Mississippi River drying out.

The Mississippi River is a major player in worldwide shipping and commerce. It carries around 500 million short tons per year of goods, including corn, soy, fertilizer, road salt, coal and petroleum products.

60% of all grain exported from the U.S. is shipped on the river.

For example, near-record low water levels caused by drought caused barges to run aground on the lower Mississippi in fall 2022. Is the Mississippi River important for wildlife.

The river ecosystem is vital for a wide variety of birds, fish and other animals. Each year, it provides a place to rest, breed and eat for more than 325 species of migrating birds.

These important habitats are threatened by climate change and human activities. For example, prolonged and frequent flooding on the upper Mississippi caused by more precipitation and land use changes in the basin is killing floodplain forests and disturbing habitat for fish.

“Mississippi” comes from the French interpretation of the Ojibwe name for the river. That name was Misi-Ziibi, which means “great river.”.

— Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In Minnesota, the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is a 72-mile park full of opportunities for hiking, kayaking, bird-watching and learning about the river.

Although it’s not a National Park Service site, the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is not to be missed. The refuge stretches more than 260 river miles from Wabasha, Minnesota to Rock Island, Illinois, protecting more than 240,000 acres of river floodplain.

Effigy Mounds National Monument, near Harpers Ferry, Iowa, is a sacred space for the Indigenous peoples who lived in the Mississippi River valley. More than 200 mounds are in the park, formed thousands of years ago by people of the Late Woodland period in the shapes of bears, birds and other animals.

In St. Louis, Gateway Arch National Park is an iconic feature along the Mississippi River.

You can ride a tram to the top, which provides wide-ranging views of the river and the city. In Natchez, Mississippi, Natchez National Historical Park is a place of hard truths about America’s history of slavery.

In 2021, the park marked the acknowledgment of Forks of the Road, once one of the largest places where people were sold into slavery across the south. Roads in the Driftless Area wind through the region’s signature hills, which were beginning to show signs of fall colors.

There have been efforts to establish a national park in the Driftless region of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, but they’ve faltered. This past year, a proposal to create a Driftless National Park and Preserve in southeastern Minnesota was pulled after residents raised concerns about private land being made public and too many visitors harming the landscape, the Rochester Post-Bulletin reported in June.

In Alton, AltonWorks — a company that aims to revitalize the city’s downtown — has proposed the creation of Great Rivers National Park, which would stretch 144 miles of riverfront. A tug with several barges makes its way through Lock and Dam 16 on the Mississippi River near Muscatine, Iowa.

Get on a boat on the upper Mississippi River, and you’ll eventually come upon a looming concrete structure stretching across the river’s main channel. It’s called a lock and dam, and it’s a distinct feature of the upper river.

What are these locks and dams for. How do they work, who controls them, and what changes have they made to the river ecosystem.

Here’s what you should know. The tug Theresa L.

Why are there locks and dams on the Mississippi River. How do they work.

Wisconsin has one of the world’s most important bodies of water right next door. Nope, we’re not talking about Lake Michigan, or Lake Superior.

The river runs more than 200 miles along Wisconsin’s western border and continues through America’s heartland. It provides habitat for hundreds of fish and wildlife species, charts the course of millions of tons of goods exported from the U.S.

It’s facing big environmental challenges: nitrate and phosphorus pollution, forest loss, invasive species and prolonged and excessive flooding, to name a few. But it could also provide nature-based solutions to some of those problems, as scientists, politicians and citizens learn more about what can be done to protect it.

You can brush up on the basics here. More:High water and prolonged flooding are changing the ecosystem of the Upper Mississippi River, a new report finds.

At just 18 feet wide, it’s easy to walk across. More:The Mississippi River is central to America’s story.

It flows hundreds of miles across Minnesota, including through the Twin Cities, before it reaches the Wisconsin border. Then it heads south, running alongside major cities like St.

The river ends about 100 miles downstream from New Orleans, where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. It takes 90 days for a single drop of water to travel from the headwaters to the Gulf.

Wyalusing State Park provides a view of the rivers’ meeting point. There are other, bigger rivers, known as tributaries, that flow into the Mississippi and add to its volume.

The Mississippi River basin drains more than 40% of the continental U.S. In other words, any drop of rain or snow that falls across a large part of the country ends up in the Mississippi.

Most of the precipitation in the state of Wisconsin ends up in the Mississippi River. About 60% of Wisconsin residents live in the river basin.

Because water travels over so much land before it reaches the Mississippi River, land use is an important determinant of the river’s health. Industry and agriculture have both played a role in polluting the river, resulting in what’s known as the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico — a massive area where nutrient pollution chokes off oxygen for fish and plants.

But many don’t know they’re in the basin. More:What is a watershed and why should you care.

The Mississippi River flows about 2,350 miles, according to the National Park Service. The Missouri River flows about 100 miles longer, making it America’s longest river.

Louis, where it meets the Mississippi. More:Mississippi River lock-and-dam system is outdated and in disrepair.

Both rivers’ lengths can change slightly as their deltas grow or shrink from sedimentation or erosion. The Mississippi River delta in particular has lost approximately 70% of its land area since 1932 due to coastal erosion, sea level rise and human activities like oil and gas extraction.

By that measure, the river is the fourth-longest in the world, behind the Nile, the Amazon and the Yangtze rivers. By volume, the Mississippi River is the 15th-largest in the world.

The river’s deepest point is near Algiers Point in New Orleans, measuring about 200 feet deep. That’s a far cry from its depth at the headwaters, which is about 18 inches, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

The river provides drinking water for almost 20 million people in more than 50 municipalities, according to the environmental advocacy group American Rivers. More:Climate change imperils the upper Mississippi River backwaters.

People who live in the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs, for example, get their drinking water from the Mississippi. The Mississippi River is a major player in worldwide shipping and commerce.

More than 90% of the nation’s agricultural exports are grown in the Mississippi River basin. 60% of all grain exported from the U.S.

Periods of drought or flooding — which are expected to get more frequent as the climate changes — can stall shipping on the river. For example, near-record low water levels caused by drought caused barges to run aground on the lower Mississippi in fall 2022.

More:Extreme rainfall and historic floods are transforming life in the vast Mississippi River basin. The challenge: How do we respond.

The river ecosystem is vital for a wide variety of birds, fish and other animals. Each year, it provides a place to rest, breed and eat for more than 325 species of migrating birds.

These important habitats are threatened by climate change and human activities. For example, prolonged and frequent flooding on the upper Mississippi caused by more precipitation and land use changes in the basin is killing floodplain forests and disturbing habitat for fish.

More:The Mississippi River’s floodplain forests are dying. The race is on to bring them back.

That name was Misi-Ziibi, which means “great river.”. The river is known by a variety of nicknames too, such as the Father of Waters.

Email Madeline Heim at [email protected]. Heim is a Report for America corps reporter who writes about environmental issues in the Mississippi River watershed and across Wisconsin.

Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Dr, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.

The Missouri River forms the northern part of our state’s western border, then crosses west-to-east through the center of the state to join the Mississippi at St. Louis.

Louis, it is 2,341 miles long — the longest river on the continent. It drains more than 500,000 square miles, including all or parts of 10 states and 2 provinces — about one-sixth of the United States.

When it joins the Mississippi, it contributes nearly half of the water that flows downstream past their confluence. Before it was channelized and controlled by dams and reservoirs, the Missouri used to rise a great deal in spring, as winter snow melted in the Great Plains, and again in June, as rains came and snow melted in the Rocky Mountains.

Today, the amount is “only” 20 to 25 million tons, as the river is not allowed to change its course and because dams arrest its flow, making silt fall to the bottom of reservoirs. But it’s still muddy-looking, and the Missouri River contributes more than half the silt that arrives in the Gulf of Mexico, forming the Mississippi Delta, so the Big Muddy nickname is still apt.

In all, that river is 2,320 miles long, the fourth longest river in the world. Counting its many tributaries, including the Missouri River, it drains all or parts of 31 states and 2 provinces, between the Rockies and the Appalachians, more than 1,245,000 square miles.

Until the Louisiana Purchase, the Mississippi River was the western boundary of the United States. Our Big Rivers are tremendously important historically.

Fertile bottomland soils supported abundant plant and animal life and valuable croplands. Thousands of years ago, Native Americans created a prehistoric metropolis, Cahokia, in the confluence region.

For the same reason, historic cities like Hannibal, St. Louis, Ste.

Joseph, Kansas City, Lexington, Boonville, Jefferson City, Hermann, and Washington began as river towns, centers of trade and human settlement. Rivers have strongly influenced human history.

If streams, including rivers and creeks, connect the land to large bodies of water (such as lakes and oceans) the way blood vessels interconnect the parts of the body, then the Missouri and Mississippi are North America’s major veins. Nutrients, silt, minerals, pollutants, and much more are swept into rivers and streams as rainwater runoff.

Our Big Rivers — the Missouri and Mississippi — constitute one of four Aquatic Faunal Regions recognized by Missouri biologists who study aquatic organisms. The other three are Grassland/Prairie, Ozark, and Mississippi Lowland.

To understand the lives of aquatic organisms, you must know about their preferred habitats. The Missouri and Mississippi rivers are quite different from our other aquatic habitats.

The Missouri and Mississippi rivers are altered habitats, having been changed drastically from their presettlement forms. Public engineers continually monitor and dredge the channels to keep them deep enough for barge traffic.

Animals living in the Missouri and the Mississippi must withstand the strong current and turbidity. Channels and levees have eliminated much of the wetland habitat that used to occur along the river bottoms, but after catastrophic floods in recent decades, people have been more receptive to the idea of establishing wetland buffer zones to absorb floodwaters.

These very different, calmer places are where many big river species retreat seasonally, and where many other species live their lives. Historically, the Missouri used to occupy a wide, braided channel with many islands and backwaters.

Today, the river is confined to a single, relatively narrow channel by the installation of wing dikes and revetments. Channel shifting and bank erosion have been almost eliminated, and the quiet backwaters are mostly gone.

Fine, shifting sand is the main bottom type. in places where the current is strongest, the bottom has small gravel, and in protected areas along the shore, deep deposits of silt line the bottom.

The Mississippi originally consisted of a series of alternating deep pools and shallow rapids, and it was more placid. Today, a series of navigation pools (6 of which are in the Missouri section of the river) have converted the river into a series of lakes — but areas with considerable current still occur downstream from the dams.

The bottoms of the navigation pools are mostly silt, which falls out of the water when the water flow is arrested. In protected areas of the pools, extensive beds of aquatic vegetation occur.

The turbidity is high, though it’s not as muddy as the Missouri. Gravelly and rocky bottoms are more prevalent than in the Missouri.

At this point, just south of Cape Girardeau, it becomes the Lower Mississippi. The massive, relatively clear flow of the Ohio causes the Mississippi to be clearer.

The swift currents, unstable substrates, and deep, turbid, murky water create a challenging environment for plants and animals. Big River fish, for example, are often strong swimmers.

Fish that are abundant in both big rivers include shortnose and longnose gar, gizzard shad, common carp, river carpsucker, buffalofishes (3 species), channel catfish, flathead catfish, white bass, and freshwater drum. Fish abundant in the oxbows and backwaters associated with the big rivers include largemouth bass, bluegill, and black and white crappies.

Many small fishes are characteristic of the big river faunal region, too, including the speckled chub, sturgeon chub, sicklefin chub, silver chub, flathed chub, plains minnow, emerald shiner, river shiner, silverband shiner, and channel shiner. Big-river organisms are not necessarily evenly distributed throughout the Missouri and Mississippi.

Some typical distribution patterns include: A hundred years of engineering the big rivers to accommodate barge navigation has changed the kinds of fishes that live in them.

as a result, the flathead chub and plains minnow, forage fishes that were very common in the Missouri in 1945, have now nearly disappeared and have been replaced by the emerald shiner and other sight feeders. Changing conditions have also caused the pallid sturgeon to decline, and several fishes formerly abundant in the Upper Missouri to increase in the lower portion of the river.

Sedimentation increases near dams, eliminating backwaters and reducing depths of pools. Dams are also barriers to fish movements.

Below the dams, where the river is engineered to by swifter and deeper, and carries less silt, fishes adapted for turbid plains waters decline. Nonnative and invasive species include common carp, grass carp, bighead carp, silver carp, and black carp — all are Asian species.

The Ol’ Man River, The Old Blue, The Big Muddy, Father of the Waters, The Gathering of Waters, The Great River… There are many names for the mighty Mississippi River and probably more love for this body of water than any other in the United States. And, not to much surprise, unbeatable fishing on the Mississippi River is one of the main reasons why this 2,300-mile watershed is so beloved.

Naturally, it has more fishing spots than you could count, and is home to well over a hundred fish species. The main channel of the river and its numerous tailwaters, levees, and backwater lakes turn fishing into a treasure hunt.

At the same time, there are plenty of spots that are excellent for novice anglers to hone their skills. In short, whatever you’d like to try in the freshwater realm, it’s possible to do it here.

Every state has their favorite catch, so depending on what you’d like to target, there are different areas to visit. The only limit to your Mississippi fishing escapade is your angling appetite, and if you aren’t sure what to target, we’ve got your back.

There’s no catch in these waters more iconic than a big feisty Catfish. This species is so popular that the official mascot of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is Freddie, the Flathead Catfish.

Flatheads and Blues are usually the largest of the three. They can easily reach 30+ inches and weigh anywhere from 20–100 or more pounds.

Though all three species are quite resilient and can live in all kinds of conditions, clear and well-oxygenated waters are their perfect home. The lower section of the river is teeming with sizeable Cats, and each of them requires a different tactic.

Channel Catfish aren’t particularly picky about what they eat. You can find them in the deeper sections of the river with slower current, especially in the side channels.

If you want to get their attention, it’s a good idea to use live bait. Finally, Blue Cats, the tastiest of the three, love stronger currents and flows of the river’s main channel.

Local anglers will always have tested techniques and types of bait that work best on their part of the river. This is why it’s a good idea to have a guide take you to your trophy Catfish.

This is the time when the Big Muddy is most abundant and you can land something truly brag-worthy. While the Lower Mississippi River has a phenomenal Catfish population, the upper section of the river offers fantastic Walleye and Sauger opportunities.

Millions of delicious and hard-fighting Walleye are caught each year all around Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. Sauger numbers follow close behind.

One of the best things about Walleye fishing on the Mississippi is that you can enjoy it all year. However, this doesn’t mean you should expect the same action any time you cast your line.

This is also the reason why ice fishing for Walleye is such a big deal on the Upper Mississippi. In summer, it’s a different story, as these fish head to the deeper, cooler waters.

Bear in mind that these fish move in schools and if you find one, there will be others nearby. Mississippi River Bass fishing is one of those things people don’t talk about nearly as much as they should.

Bass are ferocious fighters and, on a good day, you can catch dozens on the Mississippi on one trip. Smallmouth are the most popular catch, especially in cold clear waters.

White Bass are another very popular target of “bassing,” especially in the clear open waters and near jetties. Locals are almost religious about changing their setups every season to catch the Bass’ interest.

If you’re a passionate Bass angler looking to test your abilities on the Mississippi, your best bet is hitting the water in spring and fall. The action during fall is especially fast and furious because Bass are ravenous and will gulp down just about anything.

White and Black Crappie are very popular catches in the Mississippi, especially because they make for excellent table fare. The Lower Mississippi, in particular, offers some great action.

The best spots to target Crappie are usually in oxbow lakes. These little lakes are affected by changes in the main channel of the river without becoming too turbulent.

Crappie are active on the river throughout the year, and the most productive time to go after them is in spring. This is their spawning period, when they move to skinny waters and hang around underwater vegetation.

Now, this is a topic that should be covered in an encyclopedia. Seeing that the Mississippi River runs down the whole length of the US, it’s safe to say that you could spend several lifetimes exploring all the treasure troves in this 10-state area.

Whether you’d like to go ice fishing or just explore the north end of the Mississippi River, you can join many Minnesotans who spend their free time doing the same. This is one of the few states where ice fishing on the river is actually possible and productive.

Paul and Hastings). Anglers from all over the country come here to experience the superb Walleye and Sauger bite.

If you’re in the mood for some first-class Smallmouth Bass fishing, then hit the waters around Coon Rapids Dam. You won’t be disappointed.

Current breaks are another potential gold mine, especially when Walleye make their spring trip to the spawning grounds. Walleye fishing around dams is very productive, but it can also get crowded, so consult a local before you go.

This is because there are so many hot spots to get your fill of fishing action, even on the coldest days of the year. One of the well-known ice fishing spots is Mississippi River Pool 8, where you can hook a nice Walleye, Crappie, or Perch, just to name a few.

Fishermen who prefer warmer parts of the year can hit Mississippi River Pool 10, wedged between Iowa and Wisconsin. In these backwaters, you’ll find plenty of Bass, Sauger, Northern Pike, and of course, Walleye.

These floating platforms are conveniently anchored in some of the most productive spots on the river, and make it possible to reach them without a boat. You can find floats in several towns, including Alma, Trempealeau, and Genoa.

About 300 miles of the Mississippi runs through Iowa, making the riverbanks of this state a very attractive fishing destination. You’ll find the best Walleye and Sauger action near Dubuque, especially during the winter months.

You can fish the many sloughs and side channels both from shore and from a boat. Still, deep holes around underwater structures are your best shot at securing a hookup or two, or much more.

You can hook the likes of Channel Catfish, Walleye, Northern Pike, and Bass on the river throughout the year. Whether you’re o.

BAY CITY – Summers in Bay City when Frank and Cathy Dosdall were young revolved around Lake Pepin.

Decades ago, the lake was full of people swimming, waterskiing and hopping in boats to chase waves from barges that would pass through. “Any (way) we could get on top of the water when we were kids, we tried it,” Frank recalled.

And they’re far from alone in feeling the effects of environmental degradation and other problems along the Mississippi River.

RELATED: Many Great Lakes residents are unaware they should limit some fish consumption to avoid harmful contaminants. Flooding is happening with more frequency and lasting longer, changing floodplain habitats.

And despite efforts to curb pollution running off land and into the river, the dead zone where the Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico still persists. Advocates for the river are hoping that a proposed federal funding program, modeled after an effort to clean up the Great Lakes, could change that trajectory.

The Mississippi River Restoration and Resilience Initiative (MRRRI) was introduced last June by U.S. Rep.

It’s based on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) which launched in 2010.

Environmental Protection Agency and provide hundreds of millions in federal funding to groups throughout the 10 states along the river. The money could be used to fight invasive species, complete restoration projects, improve water quality and protect against flood damage.

The Great Lakes initiative is widely recognized as a success story. To date, it has funded over 6,500 projects totaling more than $3 billion and it got a recent billion-dollar boost from the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

The Great Lakes effort passed when support for the EPA was high and bipartisanship was more common. But in a polarized political climate, even champions of the Mississippi River legislation acknowledge it’s been difficult to build momentum in Congress.

Roughly 20 million people live along the Mississippi River, which supplies drinking water to more than 50 cities, drives a recreation-based economy that generates $500 billion each year and is home to more than 780 kinds of fish and wildlife. The river’s basin encompasses 31 states and drains water from 40% of the continental U.S.

“While the Clean Water Act has done a good job of removing some pollutants from the Mississippi River, it’s still treated very much like the nation’s sewer,” Rota said. Many environmental and health concerns plague the river: harmful algal blooms are forming in areas that are dammed.

and cities are spending exorbitant amounts to filter their drinking water. Another big issue is the massive dead zone that forms in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana each year, triggered by nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from agricultural runoff.

The lack of funds and mismatched concerns of stakeholders along the river make it difficult to reduce the size of the dead zone, Rota said.

“One of the things that MRRRI could do is put more money into that system,” he said. The Great Lakes initiative has already laid a road map for how federal funding could assist farmers in protecting waterways, including things like switching to perennial grasses and planting cover crops.

She was about to take over her family’s farm in New London with one small problem: she had livestock to manage — British White Parks, a heritage breed of beef cattle — but no fence to keep them on her land. The conservation office had funding to help.

The Great Lakes initiative works with other agency partners to reduce runoff and pollution in the lakes.

The pollution-filled runoff from the many farms in northeastern Wisconsin is the likely cause of harmful algal blooms every summer that kill off fish and close beaches. Bouressa’s farm is part of the solution.

The roots help bind the soil together and let water seep slowly into the ground, reducing soil erosion and runoff into nearby waterways. Practices like this could also greatly reduce the amount of pollution running into the Mississippi River.

An action plan that is updated every five years codifies the initiative’s main focus areas, which currently are cleaning up areas of concern, controlling invasive species, restoring habitat and preventing runoff. Bouressa first received funding from the conservation office in 2016.

The funding “made my farming dreams come true,” she said. “I wouldn’t have had access to get the good fence that I needed without cost-sharing available.”.

Among stakeholders, no one has a clear answer. But they suspect it’s because the states that border the river have different interests — and different problems, too.

“We hear a lot about ‘one river’ and connecting the upper and lower,” said Kirsten Wallace, executive director of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association. “But they’re so different.” Her association does not have a position on the Mississippi River legislation.

Initiatives that section off the river have been attempted before, said Maisah Khan, policy director at the Mississippi River Network, but until groups from across the basin can join together, the problems they’re working on won’t be solved. The dead zone was recorded at a record size just five years ago, for example.

“(The states) say, ‘We’re all trying our best on this,’ but letting each state try its best hasn’t really made anything better,” Khan said. MRRRI project funding — which participating organizations have estimated could be about $300 million — would fall into four main buckets.

In the two years after its passage, EPA staff would meet key stakeholders along the river — municipalities, tribal governments, nonprofit organizations and universities — to craft an action plan, identifying which projects should receive funding. Alongside the action plan would be a science plan, which would create three regional hubs at universities in the 10 border states for research on the river’s challenges.

The current bill doesn’t outline specific projects that could be funded, and supporters hope that will make clear that communities get to drive it in the direction that works best for them.

Though they secured money for that without MRRRI, funding from the legislation could help the project get replicated on other parts of the lake, said Rylee Hince, executive director of the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance.

Farther down the river, the Tennessee Wildlife Federation is hoping for more dedicated funding to help block invasive carp from coming out of the Mississippi River into the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. It has been working for years to secure money for those projects from federal appropriations, said Lindsay Gardner, associate director of policy research, development and federal relations.

Two closures on the Mississippi River reopened Sunday, easing a backlog of more than 2,000 barges. Still, river levels remain at critical lows and forecasts show them steadily declining over the coming days.

And it couldn’t come at a worse time.

Due to the scarcity of precipitation throughout the year, the shallowness of the Great River is limiting the efficiency of barge transportation, right in the middle of the harvest season. Eight barges grounded during the first week of October due to shallow depths, according to the U.S.

Intermittent closures created further snarls, leaving thousands of barges idling on the water. With no significant rainfall in the Memphis area since early September, and few significant chances in the forecast, NWS does not expect conditions to improve soon.

“We have seen river levels rise slightly over the past few days as accumulated rainfall from Hurricane Ian worked its way to the Mississippi, but it did not create a significant change in water depth,” said Katie Dedeaux, an NWS hydrologist located in the Memphis office.

In northwestern Tennessee, the banks of the Mississippi are at their widest point in 10 years. That’s the Interstate 155 bridge in the background.

Barges are being loaded lighter to prevent groundings. Each reduced foot of water depth will result in 5,000-6,750 fewer bushels of grain being loaded per barge.

Louis can often include 30-40 barges). The result is significantly less going down river, just as more is coming to the river, putting upward pressure on shipping and transportation costs.

The latest USDA Grain Transportation Report showed that the number of grain barges unloaded in New Orleans during the month of September was down about 25% from the five-year average. Consequently, barge freight rates have increased steadily since early August.

Louis to the Gulf was $90.45/ton, up 218% from last year and up 379% from the 3-year average.

According to Steenhoek, it depends on the market. In times of high demand, costs could be passed on to the customer.

By early October, Steenhoek was already seeing reports of basis widening at grain terminals on the Mississippi River, and not just in the South. When asked if low water levels could cause shipping challenges through winter and even into spring, Steenhoek said that is very likely.

“This is multiple months in the making, starting with lower-than-normal snowfall in the northwest last winter, followed by an intense drought that spanned much of the country. It will take considerable time to overcome,” Steenhoek said.

“Fortunately, we have the most productive farmers on the planet and an infrastructure that, despite these challenges, remains the envy of other soybean and grain producing countries, but the current and expected conditions along the Mississippi River are clearly a reason for concern.”. As an indication of how low river levels have dropped, the U.S.

In times of extreme low-volume water flow, denser salt water can move upriver. The intrusion of salt water into the river happens about once out of every 10 years.

Because the salt water can threaten municipal drinking water supplies, USACE will construct an underwater barrier sill near Myrtle Grove, La. Construction will begin in mid-October and a spokesperson estimated it would take two weeks to complete.

Photo: Justin Wilkens | Unsplash. Report for America today announced the selection of 10 partner newsrooms that will join the Missouri School of Journalism’s Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk in 2022.

The newsrooms include: The Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk is a collaborative reporting network providing in-depth journalism and communication about water, agriculture and environmental issues across the Mississippi River Basin.

Journalists may apply for the 10 positions through Report for America until Jan. 31.

The corps members will receive ongoing training, mentorship, and expenses-paid travel to the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists, in addition to other benefits. “This project will provide tremendous opportunities for our corps members to work for news organizations that are committed to producing high-quality environmental coverage,” said Pam Fine, Report for America regional manager and liaison to the project.

Editorial Director Tegan Wendland will lead collaborative reporting produced by the team. “I am thrilled that we received so many applications for the project,” she said.

Nearly two dozen newsrooms within the Mississippi River Basin applied to be part of the project, which aims to produce regional coverage of water and agriculture stories for distribution throughout the Basin, which stretches from Canada to Louisiana and Montana to Pennsylvania. Stories produced by the desk will be distributed, free of charge, to interested outlets for publication.

“The Mississippi River Basin is a vital part of America, both for its role in our history and for the natural resources it provides, and it demands journalism that reflects that level of importance,” said David Kurpius, dean of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

More information can be found on the Ag & Water Desk website.

Launched in 2017, Report for America is creating a new, sustainable system that provides Americans with the information they need to improve their communities, hold powerful institutions accountable, and rebuild trust in the media.

This editorially independent initiative is funded by a three-year, $1.4 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation. The project is led by Executive Director and Associate Professor Sara Shipley Hiles and advised by Associate Dean Earnest Perry, and Associate Professor and News Director at KBIA, Ryan Famuliner.

The Mississippi River starts as a small stream flowing slowly from Lake Itasca in Minnesota. As it flows down toward Louisiana it collects water from other rivers and tributaries along the way.

But how many gallons of water flow from the Mississippi River every second.

©iStock.com/Willard. The Mississippi River is about 2,350 miles long.

The headwaters of the Mississippi start at Lake Itasca in Minnesota. ©Tomaz Kunst/Shutterstock.com.

Here you will find a lake full of walleye, bluegill, crappie, and perch. The river is only 20-30 feet wide and tourists enjoy taking pictures of themselves walking across the Mississippi.

The fish that make their home in the river in New Orleans include catfish, largemouth bass, and redfish. The Mississippi River starts at around 1.2 miles per hour at the headwaters.

Along the way, the currents can be faster or slower depending on water levels and weather conditions. A raindrop that starts out at the headwaters would take around 3 months to flow down to the end.

It has a flow rate of 12,000 cubic feet per second or 89,869 gallons per second. Now let’s look at how many gallons of water flows from the Mississippi at 5 different points along the river.

At Lake Itasca the flow from the river is 45 gallons per second. According to the National Park Service, this is the equivalent of having one semi-truck trailer full of water slowly releasing all of its water over a 10-minute period.

You can see the water crashing down over St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis.

When the river reaches St. Anthony Falls it has picked up some speed and volume.

Anthony Falls in Minneapolis is 81,000 gallons per second. Quite a bit more than the start.

You can also take a tour at the St, Anthony Falls Lock and Dam Visitor Center. The National Park Service explains that at the Falls, the equivalent of 3 full semi-trucks of water go over the falls, not in 10 minutes but in 1 second.

From Minneapolis, the river flows along the Wisconsin border, down the Iowa/Illinois border, along the Missouri/Illinois border to St. Louis, Missouri.

The Missouri River is actually longer than the Mississippi, so you can imagine how much the added water flow it is capable of. That is why it should not surprise you to learn that the number of gallons of water that flow from the Mississippi River every second in St.

If you want to check the daily flow you can visit the National Water Information System which monitors the daily flow. The exact measurement for July 23, 2022, was 138,000 cubic feet per second which converts to 1,032,311 gallons per second.

2,400,000 gallons of water flow from the Mississippi River per second in Memphis, Tennessee. ©iStock.com/Kruck20.

Louis the Mississippi River gets another major influx of water, this time from the east and the Ohio River. The Ohio River meets the Mississippi in Cario, Illinois, then it keeps heading south to Tennessee.

When it reaches Memphis it has more than doubled its volume from St. Louis and flows at a rate of 2,400,000 gallons per second.

Just past New Orleans, the Mississippi River discharges at a flow of 4.5 million gallons per second.

After leaving Memphis the Mississippi continues down along the border of Arkansas and Mississippi, then Mississippi and Louisiana. It flows through Baton Rouge and to New Orleans.

By this point, about 2,350 miles later, the river is flowing at 4.5 million gallons per second (600,000 cubic feet per second). When you compare this to our semi-truck analogy it is the equivalent of 166 semi-trucks parked next to each other, each one completely full and opening the back to release all the water…in one second.

Compared to some of the major rivers in the world, the Mississippi is the 15th largest when it comes to the volume of water it discharges (please note that this measure can change over time). Here are a few other notable rivers:

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The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi that flows east and south for 2,341 miles before entering the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri.

Learn more about the Missouri River and its unique ecosystems. You’ll be happy you did.

The Missouri River is a tributaries of the Mississippi River and flows through the center of the United States. It is a major waterway that drains an area of about 500,000 square miles.

The Missouri River is the second longest river system in the world, at 2,341 miles (3,767 km). The Missouri River used to be a wide braided channel that shifted and slowed down with every flood.

The bottom of the Missouri River is primarily composed of shifting sand and gravel, though there are also some deep deposits of silt. The Missouri River is the longest tributary of the Mississippi and the second longest river in North America.

The Missouri River is named after the Missouri Tribe, who lived in the region. The river has a range of elevations, from 14,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains to just four feet at the Mississippi River.

Historically, the Missouri River was known as the Peki-tan-oui. It was later renamed the Oumessourit, meaning “Big Muddy.” It is believed that Native Americans lived in this area during the Pleistocene era, when it was used for trade by fur traders.

The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi, and its basin covers over five hundred and twenty thousand square miles in the United States. This waterway originates in the Great Plains and flows east and south to the Mississippi.

The Missouri River makes its final eastward turn and then continues to flow until it joins the Mississippi about ten miles (16 km) north of St. Louis.

Despite the long distance between the Missouri and the Mississippi, they are remarkably similar in size and shape. Before the development of modern transportation systems, people lived in Missouri and its surrounding regions.

The Missouri River served as their primary migration path and supported the lifestyle of many of these tribes. After European settlement, the river area passed through the hands of French and Spanish explorers and finally the United States.

Its origin is in the Rocky Mountains and flows for more than 2,300 miles. It drains into the Mississippi River at St.

The Missouri River is also one of the most widely used transportation routes in the country. The Missouri River’s watershed has been significantly impacted by human activity since the early 19th century, resulting in increased pollution.

This has led to increased nitrogen levels, which have affected the upper Mississippi, Ohio River, and Illinois River. These nitrogen levels have also contributed to the low oxygen levels in the Gulf of Mexico.

This has caused decreased access to riparian flora and fauna. The Missouri River begins near the confluence of the Madison and Jefferson Rivers in Three Forks, Montana.

At the confluence of the two rivers, the Yellowstone is larger than the Missouri, but the Yellowstone is a larger river. Once in North Dakota, the Missouri meanders eastward, past Williston.

It then slows, flowing into Lake Oahe reservoir and the Cannonball River confluence. The Missouri River is a renowned habitat for numerous amphibians and fish species.

Many species of fish live along the Missouri, and some are even found in urban areas. Bull sharks, for example, have been spotted in this river after swimming up from the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River.

Louis is home to these creatures.

Large mammals that live along the river include the American bison, grizzly bear, black bear, and fox. The river also is home to a variety of small animals including mice, squirrels, beavers, and prairie dogs.

The Missouri River is also an important migratory route for a large number of bird species. Many of them use the bottomland of the river as breeding, wintering, and staging grounds.

Because the river has three different reaches, fisheries are distinct between them. The endangered pallid sturgeon lives in both reaches of the park.

The Missouri River is a natural habitat for over 12 different species of snakes and turtles. Many of these animals have very distinct characteristics.

It can live up to 20 years and has olive to brown top shells with yellow undershells. The red-eared slider turtle has a distinctive red stripe behind the eyes and spends most of its time in the water.

The largest turtle in the area is the Blanding’s turtle. This species was once common in the southeastern parts of South Dakota.

They are omnivorous and have one of the highest rates of multiple paternity among all turtle species. Females often take multiple male partners during mating season.

There are several different species of snapping turtles that live along the Missouri River. The most common of these turtles is the painted turtle.

These turtles are most commonly seen basking in groups. They also regularly feed on insects and vegetation.

The Missouri River was named for an American Indian tribe that lived in the region before European contact. The tribe’s name means “people of dugout canoes” in Illinois and the Siouan language family.

Today, the Missouria live in Oklahoma and are federally recognized as the Otoe-Missouria Indian tribe. In 1673, the Marquette-Jolliet expedition discovered the river.

The Otos used different names for the river, and the French eventually settled on the name. The tribe’s name, however, stuck and is used today.

The Otoes were from the area near the mouth of the Platte River, where the Missourias lived. The Otoes met with Lewis and Clark in 1804 and gave them a name, “Niutachi,” meaning “those who drowned.”.

The northern Siouan called it Awathi, which means “canoe river.” The Crow, on the other hand, named it A-ise, which means “big river.” The Missouri river flows from northern Montana to the Gulf of Mexico, where it has its largest tributary, the Mississippi.

The Mississippi River Delta describes the area where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico. It is located primarily in the state of Louisiana, in the southeastern part of the United States.

It is also the 7th largest river delta on Earth and is the United States’ largest drainage basin.

This expansive wetlands also contain roughly 37% of all estuarine marshland in the contiguous United States.

The delta includes fresh water, brackish water, and salt water as it flows its way down towards the open ocean, meaning freshwater marshes, brackish marshes, salt marsh, and sandy beaches can all be found within the delta and basin.

The path of the river slowly deposited and dropped sand, clay, and silt along the river banks and in the existing basin, which created blockages within the river, which over time made the plain more shallow. These ‘buildups’ are known as delta lobes.

Eventually, the resistance to the former path became so great that the river was forced to find new routes, and the river changed course. This process continued repeatedly, which is why the river delta has such a forked, meandering appearance to it when seen from above.

Some 2 million or so people live in the Mississippi River Delta area. Due to its location at the mouth of the river, and the Gulf, the region was a gateway for goods and culture.

Two unique groups the developed in the area are the Creoles and the Cajuns. Louisiana is known as the Creole State.

As an ethnic group, their ancestry is mainly of French, West African, Spanish and Native American origin. Today, most Creoles are found in the greater New Orleans region or in Acadiana.

The Cajuns are another ethnic group in Louisiana who are descendants of the Acadian settlers who were expelled from Nova Scotia by the British when France lost its North American colonies after the French and Indian War. The Creole and Cajun cultures possessed distinct identities and remain strong influences in the Mississippi River Delta.

Being one of the largest wetlands, there are a variety of plants that live in the Mississippi River Delta. Many of these plants are endemic to the area, or are strictly wetland plants.

The bluffs and higher elevation areas have more forested regions, which house trees such as oak, hickory and walnut, while marsh areas include green ash, hackberry, cottonwood, and swamp white oak.

This means that many neotropical species of migratory songbirds can be found seasonally throughout the area. Additionally, 70% of the continent’s waterfowl migrate along these flyways and winter over in and around the Gulf.

The piping plover can also be found here, and is a threatened species.

Green sea turtles, which are endangered, can also be found in the Gulf of Mexico region of the delta, increasingly, as their other habitats become more and more threatened.

Unfortunately, the delta is experiencing a period of extreme threat. According to National Geographic, the state of Louisiana is losing roughly 60 square kilometers of wetland per year.

This is a major problem, as these landscapes are weakened, they become more vulnerable to strong winds and flooding. In essence, the wetlands are drying up due to both human development (specifically the construction of river levees and dams which constrict the natural flow of the river) and climate change, which has caused more and more rapid evaporation rates.

Not only does this mean a loss of the natural wetlands and habitat for various animals, but the wetlands form a natural barrier against things like tropical storms. With the overall increase in the severity of natural storms of late, these wetlands and deltas are vital to the protection of the homes and people that live in these coastal delta regions.

The Mississippi River is more than just a river. It’s a riparian thoroughfare that tells the story of a land and its peoples.

The Great River Road follows the mighty Mississippi’s flows almost as erratically as the river itself. This iconic road trip is not one scenic byway.

For 550 of those miles, the Great River Road in Illinois follows the contours of the state’s western border.

As you drive, you’ll encounter memories of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who began their western exploration from the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.

If you’re ready to drive this piece of the nation’s longest river, start planning with this step-by-step Great River Road Illinois itinerary. To navigate when you drive the Great River Road in Illinois, look for signs displaying a pilot wheel with a steamboat in the center.

Decide in advance which sites you’d like to visit and map your route accordingly. Keep in mind that the road can be navigated either north-to-south or vice versa, starting from either Cairo or Galena.

Instead, plan to spend at least a few days exploring. Overnight stops in towns like Alton, Quincy, or Galena can break up the drive and offer plenty of local culture and cuisine.

Mid-week and outside of peak summer months can often be quieter. Keep an Eye on the Weather: The Great River Road winds along the Mississippi River, which means that weather conditions can change rapidly.

Pack a Picnic: You’ll find numerous picnic spots along the route. Stock up on local produce and goodies from roadside stands or local markets and enjoy a meal with a view.

It’s a good idea to fill your tank whenever you’re at half, just in case. Have Cash on Hand: Some smaller attractions or local vendors might not accept cards, so it’s a good idea to have some cash on hand.

Ensure your vehicle is in good working order before you set off. Respect Wildlife: You’ll be driving through areas that are home to a variety of wildlife.

Embrace the Detours: One of the joys of road trips is the unexpected. If something catches your eye along the route, don’t hesitate to take a detour and explore.

This itinerary begins at the southern end of the state of Illinois. If you’re driving north to south, start at the end and work your way backwards.

At 279 feet above sea level, Fort Defiance State Park is the lowest point in Illinois. This land at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers was originally the site of Camp Defiance, a strategic location for the Union Army during the Civil War.

The park is not well maintained, but seeing the two rivers converge makes a visit worth it. As you drive through Cairo, stop at the Custom House Museum to get some insight into why this area was so important.

The southern third of Illinois is known as Little Egypt and, like Cairo, this town was named for its Egyptian counterpart.

The sandstone building, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, is the home of the Thebes Historical Society. visitors can see one of the mid-nineteenth-century courtrooms where Lincoln practiced law.

The building’s wayside exhibit claims that Dred Scott—a slave whose lawsuit for freedom lasted a decade and became a landmark US court ruling—was “imprisoned here in the dungeons” during his fight for freedom. Don’t be surprised if you start craving spinach as you near Chester.

See a bronze statue of Popeye at the Elzie C. Segar Memorial Park, and look for Wimpy, Olive Oyl, Bluto, and others throughout the town.

When the bell was cast in 1741 by King Louis XV of France, Kaskaskia was on the east side of the Mississippi River, but flooding caused the river to shift in the late 1800s, eventually making Kaskaskia the only Illinois town west of Old Muddy.

Back on the east side of the river is the Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site. Built around 1759 by the French, it became an important stop for George Rogers Clark during the Revolutionary War.

Today, only earthworks remain of the fort itself, but there’s an overlook and picnic site, a large campground, and Garrison Hill Cemetery, which contains the remains of many of Kaskaskia’s early settlers. Continue your French Colonial history lessons at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site.

The National Historic Landmark is a reconstruction of portions of the last fort and contains a restored powder magazine, believed to be the oldest building in Illinois, according to the official website. Farther north in what is now Collinsville, Illinois, is what was once the largest city in North America.

Seventy of the site’s more than 120 man-made earthen mounds remain, including the largest in the Americas. Called Monks Mound, you can see downtown St.

Occupied from around AD 700–1350, historians estimate that the peak population here was approximately twenty thousand—about the same as London at the time.

Today, Cahokia Mounds is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with an impressive interpretive center that tells the story of the original inhabitants and those who followed.

Lewis and Clark buffs will love the next three destinations. The Lewis and Clark State Historic Site, in Hartford, Illinois, commemorates Camp Dubois.

Also called Camp River Dubois, it’s where the explorers mustered and trained in the winter of 1803–1804 before their search for a western passage.

For the next thirty-three miles, you’ll be driving both the Great River Road in Illinois and the Meeting of the Great Rivers National Scenic Byway.

Just one mile north on the Great River Road, you can’t miss Confluence Tower. Visitors can take elevators to the top for views of the meeting of the rivers from 50, 100, and 150 feet.

About three miles north of the tower is another Camp Dubois. This smaller site also has a replica of the Lewis and Clark fort, and volunteers occasionally turn it into a living history museum with reenactments of life at the camp.

A US Army Corps of Engineers site, the museum covers everything from the river’s geological and cultural history to its status as a transportation thoroughfare.

One of the most significant stops on the Underground Railroad was Alton. Its location on the Mississippi just upriver from St.

Visit the Lyman Trumbull House, a National Historic Landmark, to honor the man who co-authored the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery. Also in town is the Elijah P.

Step on board and cruise with us into the night where the sleepless activity of America’s busiest port buzzes. The sounds of a lively jazz band fill the air as you enjoy a lavish Creole buffet in elegantly appointed dining rooms.

View the French Quarter, the Port of New Orleans, and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve and be entertained by a historian narrator with a detailed description of New Orleans landmarks, history, vessel information, and river lore. See details.

Relax this Thanksgiving by taking the family to the Paddlewheeler Creole Queen’s Thanksgiving Celebration on the Mississippi River, this year with two tour times available. SEE DETAILS.

The Mississippi River is a symbol of American history, progress and culture and here at the Paddlewheeler Creole Queen we are amazed by its strength and beauty every day. It is known as one of the world’s major river systems in biological productivity, habitat diversity, and size.

Come aboard our Historical Cruise to learn more interesting facts and history of one of the world’s greatest rivers. Size – The exact length of the Mississippi River varies according to the source considering the channel continuously changes over time.

Sources found that the river is between 2,300 and 2,552 miles long. In some spots like at Lake Itasca, the river is only between 20 and 30 feet wide.

The Mississippi River’s depth also differs depending on its location. At its headwaters, or furthest spot from its estuary with other rivers, is less than three feet deep.

Path– The Mississippi either flows through or borders 10 states including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The average speed of the Mississippi River is about 1.2 miles per hour, but here in New Orleans the river flows about three miles per hour. Water that leaves the river’s source at Lake Itasca takes about three months for water to reach the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mississippi River discharges about 16,792 cubic meters of water per second into the Gulf of Mexico. Commerce- Agriculture has been the dominant use of the Mississippi basin for nearly 200 years and has altered the hydrologic cycle and energy of the region.

The Port of South Louisiana is one of the largest ports in the United States according to the Port of New Orleans. With over 500 million tons of shipped goods per year, this port is significant to national trade.

Wildlife- More than 260 species of fish, about 25% of all fish species, live in the Mississippi River and 60% of all North American birds call the Mississippi River basin their migratory flyway. It also houses about 145 species of amphibians and 50 species of mammals within its banks.

In New Orleans, famous musicians like Louis Armstrong made their living performing on a riverboat just like the Paddlewheeler Creole Queen. It’s no surprise that there have been many songs written about or inspired by the Mighty Mississippi by such artists as Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Train, and Tina Turner.

Those tribes included Choctaw, Chickasaw, Quapaw, Osage, Caddo, Natchez, Tunica, Sioux, SacGox, Pottawatomie, Illini, Menominee and Winnebago. The Native Americans lived off the river, using it for transportation, drinking water and food.

Huck Finn – There have been many books that employ the Mississippi River as a symbol or secondary character, arguably the most famous being the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain whose affinity for the river is well-known. In Huckleberry Finn, the river means freedom and a new life for the main characters, as well as challenges and responsibilities that freedom comes with.

Explore this inspirational waterway with us on a Paddlewheeler Creole Queen cruise down the Mississippi.

Credit: U.S. Geological Survey Department of the Interior/USGS U.S.

Upper Mississippi Fishing Guide Middle Mississippi Fishing Guide. Description: The mighty Mississippi River forms the western border of Illinois, where it glides along flowing south the entire length of the state.

When the Mississippi River reaches its confluence with the Ohio River near Cairo, it is draining wholly or partially 25 states, as well as portions of Canada. There are two sections to the Mississippi as its flows through Illinois.

These pools range from 10 to 47 miles in length and from 3,725 to 33,500 acres in size. In all, some 200,000 acres of water are available for sport fishing in this stretch.

There are no locks and dams on this stretch of the river, which is better characterized as open river with wing dams, side channels, main channel, main channel border and extensive rip rap along the channel banks for protection. Status of the Sport Fishery: You name it, and the “Father of Waters” has it.

Crappie, plump bluegills, largemouth bass and bullhead are caught in the myriad of backwater lakes and sloughs. Channel catfish are found virtually everywhere, and the white bass fishery explodes at times.

the list of state record fish, the Mississippi has yielded five of those fish, including a 157-pound alligator gar in 1944. This species is exceedingly rare in the state.

a 48-pound buffalo. a 57-pound, two-ounce large sturgeon.

Tailwater areas below each of the roller dams provide fast, turbulent water, which stirs up food and attracts game fish. The best walleye and sauger fishing occurs behind these dams in spring and fall.

The upper pools are loaded with beautiful, island-studded lakes and sloughs. Many of these areas have little current and exhibit aquatic vegetation.

When winter comes, ice fishing can be found in these spots. Side channels also are good fishing spots.

During normal water stages, these side channels do have currents in them. Fish commonly caught there are channel catfish, white bass, panfish and drum.

Wing dams along the main channel area in this border habitat are excellent fishing areas for white bass, channel catfish, drum, sauger and walleye. Wing dams are relics of an early attempt to control the Mississippi.

Consisting of rock and filler, they mostly run at right angles from the shore, and their visibility to the boater depends on the stage of the river. The dams usually extend for some distance and have various shapes.

When submerged or partially submerged at higher river stages, they appear to cause a riffle effect in the water. At the riverward ends and immediately downstream of the dikes, deep scour holes often can be found.

It takes some boat-handling skills to control the speed and proper depth of the lure along these dams. Other fishermen may wade out on these dams during low water periods and score consistently on channel catfish and white bass.

The river widens and becomes more turbid the farther south it goes, especially below St. Louis, Mo., where the Missouri River joins it.

Wing dams in Pool 12 in Jo Daviess County are excellent spots, as is the tailwater below Lock and Dam 12 at Bellevue, Iowa. Lock and Dam 17 at New Boston also is heavily fished for these species.

Southern reaches of the river produce excellent catches of channel catfish. The side channels and rip rap areas from Monroe to Alexander County, about a 160-mile stretch, are good areas, as is the tailwaters and shoreline areas below Lock and Dam 26 at Alton.

Sloughs and lakes on each pool that traditionally have been good fish producers, keeping in mind that the wing dams and tailwaters will produce almost anytime.

Pool 12 extends from Lock & Dam 12 located near Bellevue, Iowa upstream to Lock & Dam 11 located near Dubuque, Iowa. (see map).

Kehough and Crooked Sloughs also are good areas. Along Pool 12, panfishing hotspots include Hickory and Miller’s Lakes across from Mississippi Palisades State Park where there is excellent camping facilities and at Pin Oak Lake.

Pool 13: Pool 13 extends from Lock & Dam 13 located near Clinton, Iowa upstream to Lock & Dam 12 located near Bellevue, Iowa.

Pool 14: Pool 14 extends from Lock & Dam 14 located near Hampton, Illinois upstream to Lock & Dam 13 located near Clinton, Iowa.

Angling Opportunities: Sunfish, Marais D’Osier, Schricker and Steamboat Sloughs are good spots on Pool 14 around the Fulton, Albany and Cordova areas. Pool 15:

(see map). Pool 16:

(see map). Angling Opportunities: On Pool 16, Sylvan Slough north of Rock Island and Lock and Dam 15 is a good crappie and white bass spot.

Pool 17: Pool 17 extends from Lock & Dam 17 located near New Boston, Iowa upstream to Lock & Dam 16 located near Muscatine, Iowa.

Angling Opportunities: On Pool 17 below Muscatine, Iowa, Blanchard and Bogus Islands provide good bass, bluegill and crappie habitat, and on Pool 18 some fine fishing can be enjoyed at Bell’s Pocket and Boston Bay above New Boston, the Keithsburg Refuge and Spring Slough and the Benton Chute a bit north of Oquawka.

Pool 18: Pool 18 extends from Lock & Dam 18 located near Burlington, Iowa upstream to Lock & Dam 17 located near New Boston, Iowa.

Pool 19: Pool 19 extends from Lock & Dam 19 located near Keokuk, Iowa upstream to Lock & Dam 18 located near Burlington, Iowa.

Angling Opportunities: Pool 19 may be the best largemouth bass pool on the Mississippi, because of its size and diverse structure and habitats. The sloughs around Shokokin and Burlington Island and Thomson Slough above Dallas City would be worth probing as would creek mouths below Nauvoo and above Lock and Dam 19.

Pool 20 extends from Lock & Dam 20 located near Canton, Missouri upstream to Lock & Dam 19 located near Keokuk, Iowa. Pool 21 extends from Lock & Dam 21 located near Quincy, Illinois upstream to Lock & Dam 20 located near Canton, Missouri.

Angling Opportunities: There are a number of islands on Pool 20 between Hamilton and Meyer, but better opportunities lie on Pool 21 between Meyer and Quincy. If you listed good fish producing areas, you would have to include Bear Creek, Corner Slough, Long Island, Quincy Bay and Willow Slough.

Pool 22 & 24: Pool 22 extends from Lock & Dam 22 located near Hannibal, Missouri upstream to Lock & Dam 21 located near Quincy, Illinois.

(see map). Angling Opportunities: Pools 22 and 24 (there is no Pool 23) are virtually void of towns on the Illinois side.

Access is available at Lock and Dam 21 and at the John Hay area across from Hannibal, Mo. Pleasant Hill near Lock and Dam 24 is about the only ramp located on Pool 24.

Pool 25: Pool 25 extends from Lock & Dam 25 located near Winfield, Missouri upstream to Lock & Dam 24 located near Clarksville, Missouri.

Cross Platform Link: Are you within sight of floodwater. Share your photos, videos here or post them on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #CNNWeather.

NEW: Death toll in Missouri rises to 14 with recovery of a motorist’s body. Missouri will have “major to historic river flooding” through early next week.

are under flood warnings. Here’s what to expect across the country:.

Though the storms are gone, the rivers have kept rising from Texas to Illinois.

Louis, runoff pushed the Mississippi River over the levees on Tuesday, and Wunderlich was headed for higher ground with her belongings in tow.

Widespread flooding in Missouri. “We emptied out our basement of anything important, which is strictly storage anyway.

Things that can’t be replaced. Important pieces of furniture,” Wunderlich told CNN affiliate KMOV.

A visibly exhausted James Harris told KMOV that if his house floods, he’s not moving back. “It wears you out,” he said.

Early Wednesday morning, rescuers reached Jean Scott’s trailer in the tiny town of Pacific, Missouri. Water was approaching her door, she said.

“They came and got us and put us in a raft and took us across the railroad tracks,” Scott said.

But she worries that her home is devastated. No one has given her an update.

“I really feel for the people. I really do.

“Some of these people on the highway trying to drive through this stuff – they’re very stupid,” she said.

Wednesday statement. The figure dropped from 17 million as flood warnings were canceled in parts of Missouri and Illinois.

A 24-mile stretch of I-44 is closed from Interstate 270 in St. Louis County to the Highway 100 exit in Gray Summit in Franklin County, authorities said.

Throughout the country’s midsection about 400 river gauges are over flood stage, with around 45 showing major flooding, the National Weather Service said.

Louis. Some rivers and streams have already crested, and some haven’t yet, like the Mississippi.

Missouri will still have “major to historic river flooding through early next week,” the National Weather Service’s St. Louis office said.

Record crests expected on area rivers the next several days #mowx #ilwx #stlwx pic.twitter.com/Fe8dLNdP4n. “We’ve never seen water this high,” Missouri Gov.

At its peak, the Mississippi should be at its highest level ever, Nixon said, beating the highest level of the great flood of 1993.

But it is expected to drain off rapidly, so he is hopeful the cleanup phase will begin soon.

“The river crested (there) yesterday,” said emergency manager Russell Ross. Floodwater has receded from a major highway there, but it is yet to be reopened, because it needs to be checked over.

Nixon has activated the National Guard to aid first responders and provide security in evacuated areas like Valley Park. Residents have volunteered by the dozens to fill sandbags and then pass them hand to hand to be transported or laid in place.

The Mississippi River is already creeping up the sandbags laid out to protect the town of Alton, Illinois, which lies across the river from West Alton, Missouri.

Menard Correctional Center is on the banks of the Mississippi, and the staff anticipates minor flooding in some of its cells when the river crests.

“It is devastating,” Don Smith said on CNN. “We are begging for help.”.

“I don’t even know how we’re going to deal with the cleanup process,” he said. “There are condo units that are completely underwater.”.

But he was very concerned the flooding will get worse and the town doesn’t have the capacity to protect itself.

Dallas-area tornadoes. Storms have been blamed for roughly 49 deaths this past week across the country.

Eleven people died in the Dallas area, five in southern Illinois, five in Oklahoma and at least one in Georgia.

But many of the rest died after their cars were swept away by floodwater, like five international soldiers temporarily stationed in Missouri for training.

How to help victims of deadly flooding and storms. Four soldiers killed in Missouri flooding.

In Jefferson County, south of St. Louis, rescuers pulled a man from his car stuck in floodwaters, CNN affiliate KMOV reported.

In the same county, Shelia Seaman helped a friend move his things out of the way of rising water. Then they returned to get his dog.

“We couldn’t get back across the water.”. The friend took a boat to try to rescue the dog, but rushing water washed the boat away.

There was no word on what happened to the dog.

“Typically, you see about 24 for the entire month of December,” he said.

And there have already been about 400 reports of rivers flooding in the country.

Portland, Oregon, and Seattle have been drenched with rain every day in December, Javaheri said.

And the United States isn’t alone. The United Kingdom and South America are dealing with their own massive flooding.

Blame it on El Nino, a warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean, mainly along the equator.

The phenomenon can cause more frequent and intense storms, as well as massive economic damage, as the major El Nino in 1997-1998 did.

CNN’s Brandon Miller, Nick Thompson, AnneClaire Stapleton, Alina Machado, Christine Sever, Amanda Watts, Keith Allen, Steve Almasy, Ralph Ellis and Holly Yan contributed to this report.

Among the United States’ major rivers is the Mississippi River. It stretches 2,340 miles from start to finish.

The river is a significant source of hydroelectric power, provides drinking water to millions of people, and supports a variety of ecologically and economically important fish species. However, another interesting fact is that the Mississippi River eventually meets up with the Gulf of Mexico and the results are quite astonishing.

The place where the Mississippi meets the Gulf of Mexico is spectacular for a number of reasons – so let’s take a look at them.

©iStock.com/Willard. Apparently, the Mississippi River has a different route in mind that it would like to take than the one it takes now.

The Mississippi River originates from Lake Itasca. Itasca State Park in Minnesota is where the river’s headwaters are, about 2,340 miles from its mouth.

In Louisiana, however, the river passes through many control systems. These include levees and the Old River, a former tributary of the Mississippi.

By this reasoning, the river wouldn’t take the course it does today if it were allowed to choose its own course. New Orleans is the main port that the Mississippi flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico approximately 100 miles downstream from New Orleans. The precise measurement of the river’s length from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico may vary slightly.

Subsequently, it played a pivotal role as a geographical boundary for territorial claims by Spain, France, and the early United States. The Mississippi River is home to a wide range of creatures, including at least 260 different species of fish.

By nature, the Mississippi River would prefer to take a different course than it does at the moment. Instead of following its natural path, which would mean being pushed by gravity down the Atchafalaya River basin to the Gulf of Mexico it instead follows a different path.

Together with the Morganza Spillway and several levees, the Old River Control Complex keeps the Mississippi River’s main channel flowing in its present direction. Without this diversion, however, Baton Rouge and New Orleans’ economies would suffer.

The Gulf of Mexico dead zone is a region of hypoxic water near the Mississippi River’s mouth. ©Anton Balazh/Shutterstock.com.

Generally speaking, hypoxic regions in a body of water are referred to as “dead zones.” Hypoxic zones often occur as a result of excessive fertilizers and sediment being introduced to the water. Particularly, in this case, nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment from the Mississippi River leading into the Gulf of Mexico causes the dead zone.

From Montana to Pennsylvania and downstream along the Mississippi River, the Mississippi River Basin drains much of the United States. Agricultural activities in the Mississippi River Valley contribute to the majority of nitrogen in the environment.

Dead zones are common across the globe. Some locations include the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and even Lake Erie.

In fact, the size of the dead zone in the past was equivalent to New Jersey. In 2017, there was an 8,776 square-mile dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, the size of the dead zone varies depending on a few factors. Agricultural techniques worsen the dead zone periodically, resulting in varying sizes.

The 2017 measurement, however, reflects persistent increases in the dead zone area, the largest on record. As the dead zone expands, the number of issues it causes and its seriousness increase.

The Gulf of Mexico produces forty percent of the country’s seafood. This in turn boosts billions of dollars in revenue for fishing and tourism businesses in five states every year.

The Mississippi River Delta is located in Louisiana, where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico. ©EyeTravel/Shutterstock.com.

By the time Europeans arrived, the Mississippi Delta plain covered 7,000 square miles. This makes it one of the world’s largest river deltas.

Both the local and national economies benefit from the Delta shipping, fishing, and tourism industries. Over the past several hundred years, however, humans have altered the river system.

Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost around 1,900 square miles of land, which has disappeared into the open ocean. Tropical storms Katrina and Rita continue to exacerbate the coastal crisis.

Along with that, its area has decreased by 5,000 square miles in the past 80 years. The deltas are one of the most diverse and important marine eco-regions on earth.

These include migratory birds, commercially valuable fish, shellfish, and endangered or vulnerable species like the Louisiana black bear. In addition to housing approximately two million people, the coastal zone also houses a number of essential enterprises that provide the country with food and power.

These projects work to ensure the region is safe and sustainable for humans and wildlife for years to come. The photo featured at the top of this post is © lavizzara/Shutterstock.com.

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