Increasing Stage Variability of the Mississippi River
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 23, Issue 8
Abstract
The likelihood of catastrophic floods in the Mississippi River correlates with a direct measure of variability, the magnitude of the day-to-day variations in river stage. At several sites along the Middle Mississippi River, the annual average daily stage change has increased twofold, from in the mid to late 1800s to at the present time; this increase is much higher than the increases we document at most sites on the Upper and Lower Mississippi River. Recent record floods have occurred in the highly channelized Middle Mississippi River where channel constriction is most extreme and the daily stage changes and annual amplitude of stage variations are largest. The long-term difference in the magnitude of daily stage change roughly correlates with the reduction in width of the river channel that was done to facilitate navigation, an effect that is consistent with theoretical predictions. Daily stage changes are well constrained compared to catastrophic floods, which are rare and have poorly defined frequency.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
We thank Hugh Chou for assistance in downloading and assembling the large data files that form the basis of our analysis.
References
Anfinson, J. O. 2005. The river we have wrought: A history of the upper Mississippi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Baker, D. B., R. P. Richards, T. T. Loftus, and J. W. Kramer. 2004. “A new flashiness index: Characteristics and applications to midwestern rivers and streams.” J. Am. Water Resour. Assoc. 40 (2): 503–522. https://doi.org/10.1111/jawr.2004.40.issue-2.
Belt, C. B. 1975. “The 1973 flood and man’s constriction of the Mississippi river.” Science 189 (4204): 681–684. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.189.4204.681.
Bragg, M. 1977. Historic names and places on the Lower Mississippi River. Vicksburg, MS: Mississippi River Commission.
Chow, V. T. 1964. Handbook of applied hydrology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Criss, R. E. 2016. “Statistics of evolving populations and their relevance to flood risk.” J. Earth Sci. 27 (1): 2–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-015-0641-9.
Criss, R. E., and M. Luo. 2016. “River management and flooding: The lesson of December 2015–January 2016, central USA.” J. Earth Sci. 27 (1): 117–122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-016-0639-y.
Criss, R. E., and M. Luo. 2017. “Increasing risk and uncertainty of flooding in the Mississippi River basin.” Hydrol. Processes 31 (6): 1283–1292. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.11097.
Criss, R. E., and E. L. Shock. 2001. “Flood enhancement through flood control.” Geology 29 (10): 875–878. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029%3C0875:FETFC%3E2.0.CO;2.
Ehlmann, B. L., and R. E. Criss. 2006. “Enhanced stage and stage variability on the lower Missouri River benchmarked by Lewis and Clark.” Geology 34 (11): 977–980. https://doi.org/10.1130/G22754A.1.
Funk, J. L., and J. W. Robinson. 1974. Changes in the channel of the lower Missouri river and effects on fish and wildlife. Jefferson City, MO: Missouri Dept. of Conservation.
GAO (US Government Accountability Office). 1995. Midwest flood, information of the performance, effects, and control of levees. Washington, DC: GAO.
Heine, R. A., and N. Pinter. 2012. “Levee effects upon flood levels: An empirical assessment.” Hydrol. Processes 26 (21): 3225–3240. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.v26.21.
Luo, M., and R. E. Criss. 2017. “Base flood estimates compared and linked to engineering modifications of the Missouri River.” Nat. Hazards 88 (1): 559–574. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-017-2880-9.
Milly, P. C. D., R. T. Wetherald, K. A. Dunne, and T. L. Delworth. 2002. “Increasing risk of great foods in a changing climate.” Nature 415 (6871): 514–517. https://doi.org/10.1038/415514a.
NWS (National Weather Service). 2016. “National weather service river observations.” Accessed April 10, 2016. http://water.weather.gov/ahps/.
Pinter, R. N., A. A. Jemberie, J. W. F. Remo, and R. A. Heine. 2008. “Flood trends and river engineering on the Mississippi River system.” Geophys. Res. Lett. 35 (23): L23404. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL035987.
Remo, J. W. F., N. Pinter, and R. A. Heine. 2009. “The use of retro- and scenario-modeling to assess effects of 100+ years river of engineering and land-cover change on Middle and Lower Mississippi River flood stages.” J. Hydrol. 376 (3–4): 403–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.07.049.
USACE. 2016a. “Mississippi river basin historic data.” Accessed April 10, 2016. http://rivergages.mvr.usace.army.mil/WaterControl/datamining2.cfm.
USACE. 2016b. “Water management historic data archive.” Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.mvs-wc.usace.army.mil/.
USGS. 2016. “USGS current water data for the nation.” Accessed April 10, 2016. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt.
Winkley, B. R. 1977. Man-made cutoffs on the lower Mississippi River, conception, construction, and river response. Vicksburg, MS: US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station.
Winkley, B. R. 1994. “Response of the lower Mississippi River to flood control and navigational improvements.” In The variability of large alluvial rivers, edited by S. A. Schumm and B. R. Winkley, 45–74. New York: ASCE.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 9, 2017
Accepted: Jan 31, 2018
Published online: May 24, 2018
Published in print: Aug 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Oct 24, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.