References
Bruin,
D. d. (2006). Similarities and differences in the historical
development of flood management in the alluvial stretches of the lower
Mississippi basin and the Rhine basin. [Electronic version].
Irrigation and Drainage, 55(S1), S23-S54. Retrieved
September 19, 2006, from Wiley InterScience database.
Bruin provides a comparison of flood management measures over time in
the Rhine basin with that in the lower Mississippi basin. Through
use of diagrams, he is able to effectively illustrate how natural
variations in both rivers have, eventually, been controlled.
Perhaps most usefully, Bruin methodically organizes and breaks down the
different elements of flood control into four main categories - levees,
floodways, main channel improvement and stabilization, and tributary
basin improvement - in the Mississippi, and explains the current role
of each in flood management.
Bukaveckas,
P. A., Guelda, D. L., Jack, J., Koch, R., Sellers, T., & Shostell,
J. (2005). Effects of point source loadings, sub-basin inputs and
longitudinal variation in material retention on C, N and P delivery
from the ohio river basin. [Electronic version]. Ecosystems, 8(7),
825-840. Retrieved September 19, 2006, from CSA Illumina database.
This paper examines the effects of point sources and other mechanisms
on the movement of chemicals into the river, specifically from the Ohio
river basin. The study finds that agriculture in the Wabash river
basin is largely responsible for the input of P and N into the river;
wastewater treatment plants account for a number of other
chemicals. In studying the Mississippi, it is interesting to note
not only channel flow and sedimentation but also some of the chemical
properties of the river, as these have the potential to affect both
human health farther downstream as well ecological characteristics that
will be important with factors like the rebuilding of coastal
wetlands. If these chemicals are harmful to either, they can only
be reduced by understanding the source of them.
Charlier,
T. (2006). Saving the mighty Miss. State Legislatures, 32(4),
30.
Charlier argues that many years of controlling the Mississippi river
for the purposes of helping navigation and preventing floods have
caused damage to the environment in the area. However, he also
introduces an initiative by six states - Arkansas, Kentucky, Lousiana,
Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee - to reverse some of this damage,
but through a large number of smaller-scale projects instead of a
single huge project like the Army Corps of Engineers have been
designing for the river in the past.
Core,
J. (2002). Improved land-management practices protect watershed lakes.
Agricultural Research, 50(10), 20.
Although this article largely focuses on land-management practices
intended to prevent certain chemicals, largely from agricultural
runoff, from entering lakes - especially the many oxbow lakes
characteristic of the area around the Mississippi River - they are
equally similarly applicable to reducing the impact of runoff into the
Mississippi. Core discusses techniques - termed "best
management practices" - such as low-till and no-till agriculture to
reduce erosion, and taking advantage of riparian buffer zones to
encourage microbial growth that may be able to break down, for example,
certain herbicides.
Criss,
R. E., & Shock, E. L. (2001). Flood enhancement through flood
control. Geology, 29(10), 875-a-878.
In this study, Criss and Shock take a look at the changes in flood
stages over time at different parts of the Mississippi River. In
areas with fewer levees like the Upper Mississippi, they see less of a
change, while much of the lower Mississippi has a greater change,
probably due to increased levees and channelization. Thus,
building and maintaining levee and channel systems creates a system
that has the potential to keep building on itself - perhaps until it
reaches some critical point at which levees and channelization will no
longer be effective.
Dixon,
T. H., Amelung, F., Ferretti, A., Novali, F., Rocca, F., & Dokka,
R., et al. (2006). Space geodesy: Subsidence and flooding in New
Orleans. [Electronic version]. Nature, 441, 587-588.
Retrieved September 20, 2006, from CSA Illumina database.
This recent examination of subsidence in New Orleans not only suggests
that New Orleans is subsiding, and quickly; it also suggests that rabid
subsidence at certain areas may have actually caused levee weakening
and been an additional cause of levee failure. The authors
suggest a number of possible causes of subsidence, and also imply that
the more rabid subsidence of certain wetlands areas may not simply be
the result of loss of sedimentation; that, as the river has been
controlled, dessication and compaction have also each played a role.
Environmental
science; redirecting the mouth of the mississippi river is proposed as
a way to save the louisiana coast.(2006). Health Insurance Law
Weekly, , 95.
The author draws heavily from quotes from Vince Neary, a Tennessee Tech
University professor of civil and environmental engineering, to convey
that large scale actions involving the actual transfer of much of the
lower Mississippi to different outflow channels will probably be
necessary in order to rebuild coastal wetlands which are both an
environmental asset to the area and act as a buffer in the event of
large storms. However, the article also advances the viewpoint
that environmental and economic issues must both be addressed, and
that, in diverting the Mississipi, its role as a navigation center
cannot simply be disregarded. Neary also compares a Mississippi
diversion and flood control project with a similar previous project in
California's Napa River Estuary; more research into this project may
yield additional insights.
Gordon,
D. C. (2004). A remedy for a chronic dredging problem. Engineer, 34(4),
32.
Gordon describes the response of engineers to an area that required
once to twice yearly dredging in order to maintain a minimum depth for
barges and recreational boats. This article, describing both
traditional techniques to reduce the need for dredging as well as the
comparably innovative response taken in this situation, is excellent
for understanding the role of dredging and maintaining a minimum depth
for navigation along the Mississippi River.
Gore,
J. A., & Shields, F. D.,Jr. (1995). Can large rivers be restored?
Bioscience, 45(3), 142.
Bringing the Mississippi River back to a more natural state would allow
for a healthier ecosystem around it and allow sediment deposition along
coastal wetland areas. While the natural state would bring its
own host of problems, Gore and Shields examine whether such a
restoration is even possible. They conclude that, through a
number of techniques, it would be possible to rehabilitate portions of
rivers, but not to actually restore any portion of a river - especially
a large one so important to navigation like the Mississippi - to a
pristine condition.
Hatfield,
T. J. (2000). The Thompson bend riparian-corridor project: An
innovative environmental solution to a major navigation and
flood-control concern. Engineer, 30(4), 40.
The Thompson bend riparian-corridor project is one of the more
innovative attempts at a flood-control plan. A riparian zone
planted with vegetation including specifically bred cottonwood trees,
was originally intended as a non-intrusive method of reducing erosion
and preventing a navigation channel from changing location. Not
only was it effective at this, but during a later flood, it succeeded
in cutting water velocities in half while only about 40% of the trees
themselves died. This is a technique that deserves more attention
as a cheaper and probably more environmentally-friendly method of
stabilization and maintaining watercourses than traditional dikes.
Larson,
E. (2004). Ruining the river. Utne, (122), 22.
The article provides an interesting look at how political the issues of
dam and lock building along the Mississippi River is - and was, before
hurricane Katrina. Although groups may attempt to stop large
scale projects and things like the building of larger locks for
improved navigation, ultimately the decision is left up to whether
Congress wishes for the project to continue, whereupon money will be
allocated.
McLeod,
R. (1990). An environmental snapshot of the mississippi. EPA
Journal, 16(6), 34.
McLeod creates a clear look at the basic aspects of the Mississippi
today, and compares this with aspects of the past. He does so in
a way that manages to consider large events of environmental importance
- large old sources of pollution, for example - as well as the gradual
channelization and control of the river.
Poff,
N. L., & Hart, D. D. (2002). How dams vary and why it matters for
the emerging science of dam removal. Bioscience, 52(8),
659.
The author provides a good introduction to the number of arguments
supporting dam removal - among them, that dams affect downstream
sedimentation and temperature, and thus their ecology. As
maintenance costs for dams increase, the author predicts that more will
continue to be removed in the future; since dams are a major part of
the current Mississippi river system, a good understanding of their
role and their affect on the river is important to examining the effect
of human intervention on the Mississippi.
Ribaudo,
M. (2006). Hypoxia in the gulf: Addressing agriculture's contribution.
Amber Waves, 4, 37.
Ribaudo provides a good explanation of the interaction between
chemicals - largely agricultural runoff - in Mississippi River waters,
and the environment that it runs into. The Northern Gulf of
Mexico has actually become one of the Western Hemisphere's largest
oxygen-poor (hypoxic) zones, resulting in the death of large amounts of
marine life in the area. Scientists, he says, believe that this
hypoxic zone is the result of nitrogen being with water from the
Mississippi River. The presence of the hypoxic zone, however,
reduces the health of the water in the area, and has possible economic
ramifications for the area.
Robison,
R. (1995). Taming the Red River. Civil Engineering, 65(6),
64.
Although they focus on a different river than the Mississippi, this
article concerning channelization methods provides a good parallel to
what the Army Corps of Engineers has been doing to many rivers in the
region over the years. Knowing the methods of channelization and
purpose of putting in locks is useful to researching just how the river
in constricted, and considering any flaws in the current system.
Sparks,
R. E. (1995). Need for ecosystem management of large rivers and their
floodplains. Bioscience, 45(3), 168.
Sparks argues that maintaining the presence of large river-floodplain
ecosystems is important to an area where they exist. He compares
this with historical states of the river, providing insite into both
the current state of the river and the past state of the river, as well
as the interaction between the river and the floodplain around it, both
in the present and the past.
Sparks,
R. E., Nelson, J. C., & Yin, Y. (1998). Naturalization of the flood
regime in regulated rivers. Bioscience, 48(9), 706.
Sparks, Nelson, and Yin have produced a particularly helpful look
flooding along the Mississippi River. While they do introduce
current
methods of flood management to the reader, they also put these into a
historical context; they compare the current situation of flooding with
the historical situation, and trace through time the human
interventions on the river and their results. The many aspects of
the
river examined in this paper provide a complete and cohesive look at
the Mississippi.
Upbin,
B. (1998). A river of subsidies. Forbes, 161(6), 86.
Upbin provides a succint and somewhat ironic look at the role of barges
on the Mississippi River - they are, he claims, more subsidized than
any other form of transportation in the United States. He argues
against the allocation of even more additional money into the
Mississippi River for the use of building additional locks to make it
more easy to navigate. Despite the sarcastic tone, this piece is
an interesting take on the allocation of money in the Mississippi
between taxpayers money going in as subsidies to support navigation
versus how much money farmers and shippers are actually able to take in.
Wiener,
J. G., et al. (1996). Mississippi river. Retrieved September
21, 2006 from http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/noframe/ms137.htm
This website provides a good introduction and overview to many aspects
of the Mississippi River. It methodically divides the river into
sections, and examines the defining characteristics of each, along with
the role humans have played in that area over time. Finally, it
also takes a look at economic and ecological aspects of the river, both
of which must be considered as "costs" which may be saved or lost when
creating a plan for New Orleans and the Mississippi River.
Zhang,
Y., & Schilling, K. E. (2006/6/15). Increasing streamflow and
baseflow in mississippi river since the 1940's: Effect of land use
change. Journal of Hydrology, 324(1-4), 412-422.
Zhang and Schilling convey the role of changing land use around the
Mississippi river in adjusting streamflow, in terms of discharge from
groundwater and runoff from land surfaces. They explain changes
in stream flow largely in terms of changing agriculture in the upper
part of the basin - before the 1940's, most of the agriculture in the
area was perennial vegetation; a switch to annual row crops such as
corn and soybeans has, they claim, adjusted the method of water
discharge in the area beyond the bounds of seasonal variation.
This is important in terms of understanding the role humans have had in
affecting the flow of water through the Mississippi.