Cut To the Chase

Why Does It Flood

The Corps Old River Control Complex (ORCC) near Louisiana’s Angola Prison just south of the Mississippi line makes flooding worse inside the levees. The flooding affects about a half million acres in Mississippi and Louisiana owned by over 500 plaintiffs who sued the Corps in 2019 for taking their properties. I’m one of those plaintiffs. I quit writing about floods when I became one. I’m starting again. I can’t wait on the courts.

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Stuck in the Mud on the Mighty Mississippi

Tower Rock on the MS River

Barge shipping on the river, vital to the U.S. economy and especially for midwestern farmers, is grinding to slow motion.  Extra costs are growing by the hour.  The result will be an inflationary bump to food prices and probably other goods.

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WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE: Part 2

Water, Water Everywhere: Part 2

The batture lands along the river are a harbinger of a changing river that is less and less under control of the Army Corps of Engineers.

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WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE: Part 1

Pearl River Flooding

In 2020, it’s the Pearl River flooding the Jackson Metro area and downstream. The Big Black is flooding as well as lower stretches of the Mississippi River. In 2019, it was the Yazoo River flooding the Lower Mississippi Delta, as well as flooding along the Missouri and Lower Mississippi Rivers.
Photo Credit: Clarion Ledger

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2019 Mississippi River Flood: One for the Records

2019 1973 MS River Flood Comparison

If there were a Hall of Infamy for Mississippi River Floods, 2019 would certainly be the in the top 1 or 2 of the past century.  Thankfully, most of the levee system held so 2019 was perhaps not as dramatic as 1927 but damage was widespread and extensive.  Higher water for longer equals higher odds of greater damage and loss in the future.

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If the Mississippi River Won’t Drain, Pull the Drain Plug

MS River Bathtub Drain

Since 2016, Bigger Pie (BPF) has warned repeatedly that water reaches the Lower Mississippi River (MSR) faster than it can get out to the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Isn’t it time to either remove the plugs in the Lower MSR or to open the other drain —Old River Control Structure?

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The Mississippi River — A New Normal

Mississippi River A New Normal

Why is the river so high in July?  Why has the MSR from below Natchez to north past Vicksburg been 4-5 ft. higher on average over the past decade during low water months than it was 50 years ago?

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