Morganza Spillway: Phenomenon Explained

Take a guided tour (Well, watch me stand at the edge of the structure...) of the Morganza Spillway and learn about its purpose, construction, operation, and effects of the structure in times of flooding on the Mississippi River.

This video was also updated in time to comment on the US Army Corps of Engineers' decision to indefinitely postpone the opening of the spillway in June 2019.

Other Videos in the Series:

History of Engineering Old River: Coming Soon
What if the Old River Control Structure Fails: Coming Soon
Geography of the Mississippi River in South Louisiana: Coming Soon
Mississippi River Series Wrap-up: Coming Soon

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[brbertram]

I just discovered these videos. Well done past Mr. Klein!

[TWOCOWS]

Ok, Loren, Your information and the documentary is fabulous, accurate and easy for people to learn. Really nice.

[bignakedjay]

OUTSTANDING VIDEO MR. KLEIN! Can’t wait for the next one!

[robertbrouillette]

My father was from Marksville, Louisiana and was five years old when the 1927 flood happened. He told us what he remembered. I have been across the Morganza Spillway a gazillion times. I had a cousin that helped build it.

[zachkaiser]

I know a lot about when they will open the structures or do anything with them since my nanny works for the army Corp of engineers

[pattytodd]

Great stuff! I've been fascinated by these structures and the Corp's attempted control of the Mississippi River since reading McPhee's mid-'80s piece in the New Yorker on the Atchafalaya vs the Mississippi. My blues-musician partner and I will be taking Amtrak this Thursday morning from our home in Tucson to New Orleans then will take a road trip up Highway 61 (searching for music) up to a family horse event in Lexington, KY. I had added a detour that will take us across the river and up Highway 15 so I can finally see the structures at Old River before they're gone (which seems inevitable). Having just finished John Barry's Rising Tide, and with the current high water along the Mississippi, I'm ready to abandon the trip if conditions suddenly change (like an early hurricane hitting the area) so I monitor the weather daily along with continuing my research on the history of the control of the Mississippi River. I'm elated to have found your videos just days before we embark on this adventure. So if the creek don't rise we'll be heading (for the first time ever) to the heart of the Mississippi Blues Country (boyfriend's dream) and the ORCS (my dream). Again, many thanks for passing on your knowledge and enthusiasm. Let me know if you have any advice for us.

[JamesJones-cxpk]

Ive been there when both sides of the spillway were flooded. I have also seen the Atchafaleye running 15 mph when the spillyway was wide open.

[TrailChaser]

Great video. Any chance of you doing a video about Lake Peigneur and the salt mine that flooded and made a huge whirlpool and waterfall? I'd love to hear an updated story about it.

[withamarshview]

SLOW DOWN. Excellent information about the infrastructure and analysis of how it functions, but the "fast forward" delivery means I'm unlikely to remember it. I do want to see more, so I subscribed.

[Bebubbedy]

Excellent sharing of knowledge.
Thank you!!

[Alcyone]

Awesome vids. I've always been fascinated by the engineering behind controlling the Mississippi/protection of lower Louisiana.

Love the shirt by the way.

[missFrill]

they may soon relize it is cheaper to move people than to move a river....

[shaeugfie]

Thank you for these. I’m in south Louisiana and I’m concerned.

[drwiebenstein]

Thank you for this series on the lower Mississippi. I'm currently doing a research project on the threats and consequences of the Mississippi being captured by the Afchafalaya. Is there any source material you'd reccomend? The paper is for a history course. Thank you!

[russcrawford]

Ah ... I was wondering ... I fast-forwarded the video to March 26th, 2068 and the spillway hadn't been opened yet ...

[AllAmericanGuyExpert]

I think you're wrong at 10:29 ... culminating in a backwards representation of the flow regimes at 11:08 ... The _blue graph_ should be labeled as the rising river, and the _red graph_ is the falling river. The way to think about it is once the crest occurs, it's hard to subside because the downstream portions of the river are already higher than normal, so streamflow is SLOWER. That means that when the levels fall at one particular gauge, another downstream gauge is hitting its crest and causing resistance to flow at the upstream gauge.

Why? Because the slope to the ocean is less after a crest. When the slope is less, less water flows. Even at equivalent gauge heights. This is why it's important during flooding events of the lower Mississippi to watch Red River Landing and Baton Rouge for rising water. After a crest, we know that the streamflow tends to be less than the published lookup tables. The tricks used to do this have already been covered by your channel, so you know how USACE does that in the lower river.

I'm sorry, but you need to take down this video and redo it with a *New Future You* who has learned from his mistakes.

If you have any questions, I could refer you to a paper of the USGS by Robert Holmes, Jr. That one is easy to grasp and free.

[pingpaul]

Mostly the people who live inside the flood way, and were paid for flood rights, don’t want the Morganza opened. Cajun politics have played an important role for decades.

[dognamedromeo]

The no. 2 idea for a video that I mentioned in your severe weather video centers around the bayou chene project. The thing that delayed the project for so long is a lack of money. I believe the money finally came from the coastal restoration fund. They have plenty money and because this project will greatly benefit the marsh that's where the money should come from. If we can some how convince our elected officials that the two (flood control and coastal restoration) goes hand in hand then we would greatly benefit from this. With your knowledge and willingness to do videos perhaps you could do a video on how effective this bayou chene project is in rebuilding the marsh and plant the idea that more projects like this should be funded by the coastal restoration fund. Flood waters is what built the marshes to begin with and and with proper flood control projects we can rebuild them again.Thanks for your videos, hope you"ll consider doing some along the line I mentioned.

[CenLAStormSpotters]

Nice video. Im glad i live more north toward echo and near red river. Just 45 min north of there. Still i walked behind my house over levee and even the ole red was high lol. But thanks for the info amd love the channel.

[jollyjohnthepirate]

The Atacfalaya River is the other outlet of the Mississippi. Geology doesn't lie.