Spillway

As you can see from this one link I think a lot about the river.
Not only because it is the single most important drainage systems in the U.S. in terms of the the number of states it includes in its watershed (32 states and a few Canadian provinces) but also because it remains the shipping channel for much of the commerce that the country depends upon.


• The Mississippi has been above 11 feet – considered bank full – at the Carrollton Gage in New Orleans since last November. The river hit 15 feet in New Orleans on Feb. 23, which triggers daily inspections.
• For the first time in its history, the Bonnet Carre Spillway at Montz (located about 12 miles west of New Orleans) was opened two years in a row and also for the fist time, opened twice in the same year (February and May of this year).
• "On May 21, 2019, this flood event will become the longest in duration since the 135-day-long flood event in 1927 at Baton Rouge," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski said. "The river went above flood stage during the morning of Jan. 6 and is forecast to remain out of its banks through at least mid-June.""

With disastrous effects of the Anthropocene era here sooner than we imagined, New Orleans has to constantly check the mirror on the left (Upriver) as often as it does the right (Gulf) to make sure its okay during each event.


Here’s a LIDAR image of the Mississippi River along the border of Arkansas and Mississippi. This shows the past and present meanderings of the river: