Is the Mississippi river still rising?

Rising River Levels Along The Mississippi River The Mississippi River will continue to rise through the next 1 to 2 weeks as runoff from snowmelt upstream in combination with rainfall runoff moves through the river system. Confidence has increased that much of the river will see minor to moderate flooding.



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A shrinking river is hurting people and the economy in a variety of ways. Barges can't operate on the river to get goods to market. Drinking water may also be at risk – for example, salt water moving upriver from the Gulf of Mexico could impact drinking water supplies in parts of Louisiana.

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Flooding this spring produced crests down the mainstem Mississippi River somewhere between 2019 and 2001 flood levels - most of these crests fell within the top 5 on record. The bulk of the snowpack in the Mississippi River basin has melted and this water is working down the river.

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The Colorado River is drying up due to a combination of chronic overuse of water resources and a historic drought. The dry period has lasted more than two decades, spurred by a warming climate primarily due to humans burning fossil fuels.

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Over the years, a proposed solution has come up again and again: large-scale water diversions, including pumping Mississippi River water to the parched west.

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As crazy as it sounds, engineers say the idea is technically feasible. It would involve building a system of dams and pipelines to move the water uphill across multiple states over the Continental Divide. Gravity would then work in our favor to drop the water down to the Colorado River watershed.

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Downstream of St. Louis, the Mississippi River is free flowing all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River also provides an important source of water for drinking, cooling, recreation, and fish and wildlife.

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What happens if Lake Mead dries up forever? If Lake Mead were to run out of water, the Hoover Dam would no longer be able to generate power or provide water to surrounding cities and farms. The Colorado River would essentially stop flowing, and the Southwest would be in a major water crisis.

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Cultural health, sacred places, and traditional food sources are threatened along the Colorado River's Grand Canyon, Alaska's Chilkat River, and Washington's Snake River.

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Another way to measure the size of a river is by the amount of water it discharges. Using this measure the Mississippi River is the 15th largest river in the world discharging 16,792 cubic meters (593,003 cubic feet) of water per second into the Gulf of Mexico.

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What Causes the Dead Zone? Heavy rains and melting snows washed massive amounts of nutrients—particularly nitrogen and phosphorus—from lawns, sewage treatment plants, farm land and other sources along the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico.

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