Adsactly Education: Mississippi River River at Risk

How can such a great waterway be at risk? In some ways it is at risk from the humans that love and use it. In some ways it is at risk from itself. Some risks are from even larger sources.

In the first part of this series (available here) we discussed the geologic history of the river and it’s flow. The second part of the series (available here) was about the early human history in the valley. The third part (available here) went from European contact to full American influence. The fourth part of the series (available here) is all about the Civil War on the River. The next piece of this series deals with the US westward expansion and is available here. Most recently is an article on the Dams Bridges and Locks with a bonus on the music of the River is available here.

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Human Risk

Humans are hard on most natural things and the Mississippi is no exception. Some of the human caused risk is based in good intentions that have less than admirable results. Some of the human caused risk comes from people just willfully polluting the river. Some comes from less specific but just as nasty agricultural contaminants and run off from housing developments.

It all leaves a mark.

Pollution

The River is often listed as the most polluted river that enters an ocean. There is a ‘dead zone’ well out into the Gulf of Mexico where nothing grows. Plants, animals, fish or shellfish. How can this be?

In truth, the Mississippi is horribly polluted and will stay that way for a long time, even if we would do the necessary things to stop it tomorrow. Ag pollution is the primary, but not only cause. Simple run off from tens of millions of acres end up in the river. Weed killer, fertilizers and manure all have their part in damaging the river. Weed killers damage beneficial plants in the all important marge between the River and the farms. More water runs through more directly bringing more chemical with it. The cycle is endless.

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Fertilizers and manure change the ph of the river and give rise to huge algae blooms which actually change the amount of oxygen in the water which is in turn very detrimental to water plants and fish. Manure also has a ‘silt’ effect which can change the river’s water temperature and it’s oxygen content.

Industrial Pollution

The river is a filthy mess of toxic chemicals that have been dumped in the past and are still being dumped. More than half of the industrial chemicals produced in the US every year will end up in the Mississippi.

Part of the problem is the enormous drainage basin. There’s just plain a lot of acres of contaminated land that end up giving water to the River at some point. Mining waste, fracking waste, oil spills. All of these sources and many more pump a continuous stream of chemicals to the river.

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Fifteen million (15,000,000) people get their drinking water from the Mississippi.

Climate Change

The entire drainage basin of the Mississippi and it’s tributaries is currently predicted to get warmer and drier under the effects of climate change. Every drop of rain that doesn’t fall, or that evaporates before it makes the river has a compounding effect.

That drainage basin is one of the world’s breadbaskets. Every drop of water used for irrigation requires more pumping and more water that doesn’t get to the River. It’s a long slow strangulation cycle. There will be other consequences felt around the world before the Mississippi is horribly affected, but even a very small amount compounds to a much larger amount.

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Flooding

The biggest risk to the Mississippi is flooding. Flooding is and always been an annual event on the River. Generally between March and May each year the river has a ‘high water’ event. Over the course of the last 150 years much work has been done to the river and it’s banks to minimize flooding. Believe it or not, that creates a problem and increased risk.

The Upper Mississippi

The biggest danger to the upper part of the River is deforestation and housing developments. The upper river continues to gain in popularity with the population and so more and more homes are being built. Trees and brush which are essential to cleaning and holding water are being replaced with concrete and asphalt. The water just rushes off and into the flood much faster than if it had to run across forest and marsh. So more water hits the upper river quicker than ever before.

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Part of the deforestation is due to farming. There is a lot of very productive land in the northern drainage basin that is needed to feed a hungry world. Ag lands do not hold water like forest and brush so more water enters the river quicker,

The Middle River

The Middle River is where the bulk of flood control work has been done over the years. We’ve seen increased water entering the river from the upper river and those same forces are in effect for the midsection. The problem is further compounded by levees and dikes and dredging on the middle river. Every levee and deepend channel allows more water to flow downriver quicker. Historically the river slowed itself in twists and turns and shallow spots where the water could spread out for miles in a high water event. Those twists and turns have been removed in the interest of better navigation.

Farm ground and cities are protected on the Middle River and the result is a LOT of water moving down river quicker.

The Lower River

The lower river feels the result of the whole river moving water downstream more quickly. What used to be considered once in 500 year flooding events now happen about every 5 years. New Orleans and Baton Rouge are at horrible flooding risk. If one dike would fail in New Orleans during an extreme high water event it could wash away completely.

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So, we see that the mightiest river in North America is at horrible risk from a number of areas. What is to be done? The first thing would be for the entire country to acknowledge that the River is at risk and action needs to be taken promptly.

That’s not going to happen. My only real hope is that whatever event it takes to bring awareness to the population is gentle enough to not kill 10,000 people or 100,000 acres. Those sorts of numbers are certainly possible.

Thanks for our trip up and down the Mississippi River. It has been my extreme pleasure to be your guide.

Unsourced Photos are used courtesy of the author.

While the words and ideas in this post are strictly those of the author these sources were referred to by me to insure numerical and historical accuracy.

Wikipedia: Mississippi River
National Park Service: Water Quality in the Mississippi River

Authored by: @bigtom13

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