In less than 200 years the Basin of the Mississippi river has changed. The runoff from non farmed areas to built up areas and farming, which in many cases is not "on the contour", have increased the flood flows/ More important is the low area near the river have been used for building and are flooded when the level of the water rises. The low areas should be used as open areas and when flooded do not cause too much damage. A good start would be to begin in the upper areas of the watershed of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers an design water storage areas, working downstream in each watershed. By working from the top down it is possible to reduce peak flood flows and it is always true that an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound ( $1'000'000) of cure. The above I learned at the Univ. of Minn. In Soil Conservation/ Ag. Engineering. Treat the cause not the result!!!!!
Published by Abba Niv, Drainage Engieer at Zafrir Weinstein Engineers PM
In less than 200 years the Basin of the Mississippi river has changed. The runoff from non farmed areas to built up areas and farming, which in many cases is not "on the contour", have increased the flood flows/ More important is the low area near the river have been used for building and are flooded when the level of the water rises.
The low areas should be used as open areas and when flooded do not cause too much damage. A good start would be to begin in the upper areas of the watershed of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers an design water storage areas, working downstream in each watershed. By working from the top down it is possible to reduce peak flood flows and it is always true that an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound ( $1'000'000) of cure.
The above I learned at the Univ. of Minn. In Soil Conservation/ Ag. Engineering. Treat the cause not the result!!!!!