Hydrology, hydraulics, and geomorphology of the Upper Mississippi River system

Abstract

The Upper Mississippi River system has been modified with locks, dams, dikes, bank revetments, channel modifications, and dredging to provide a nine-foot navigation channel. These activities have changed the river's characteristics. The historical changes in the hydrologic, hydraulic, and geomorphic characteristics were assessed and related to navigational development and maintenance activities in the Upper Mississippi River system. The hydrologic, hydraulic, and geomorphic features studied include river discharges, stages, sediment transport, river position, river surface area, island surface area, and river bed elevation. Water and sediment transport effects on dredging were also estimated. It was found that the general position of the Upper Mississippi River system has remained essentially unchanged in the last 150 years except for specific man-made developments in the river basin. The stage, velocity, sediment transport, and river and island areas were altered by development of the 2.75-m navigation system. Dredging requirements are strongly related to mean annual water discharge. Years in which water discharges were great were generally the years during which large volumes of sediment needed to be dredged from the channel. The backwater areas are experiencing some deposition. With implementation of erosion-control measures in major tributaries and upland areas, better confinement of disposed dredged materials, and better maintenance practices, the sedimentation and pertinent problems in the main channel, as well as in the backwater areas, may be reduced with time.