# data[].attributes.body
The TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) is a multipurpose scheme which:

controls flooding
provides a water supply
produces hydro-electricity
improves navigation
increases afforestation
reduces soil erosion
encourages industry
encourages tourism

1. Dams and reservoirs
The Missouri River (tributary):
6 dams have been built on it, creating 1600km chain of105 reservoirs that prevent flooding, provide water supply, and HEP: these dams reduce water reaching/added to the Mississippi, without them, 1993 flood would be even worse.

2. Afforestation
TVA is also responsible for planting many trees. Trees delay run-off and reduce amount of water reaching the river, as its roots absorb the water, and also captures preciptiation, which in turn allows water to seep into the ground via dropflow.

3. Diversionary Spillways
These are overflow channels that take surplus water during times of flood. The Bonnet Carré Floodway begins 50km north of New Orleans. In times of flood, it diverts excess water away from the Mississippi through a 9km long spillway, through 350 small bays/reservoirs into Lake Pontchartrain, where the water eventually ends up in the Gulf of Mexico. This has greatly reduced flood risk in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

4. Straightening and shortening course
By cutting through narrow necks of several large meanders.
Between 1934 and 1945, a 530km stretch of river was shortened by almost 300km.
By decreasing the distance, the gradient increases, hence the speed increases--so flood water is transported away quicker. On the other hand the argument would be that by causing an ioncrease in velocity, it could deterioate the river banks as well as divert water from areas that actually require water. Though there aren't any example of this happening now, there is a possibility of this happening in the future.

5. Strengthening the levées
Levées used to be made of soil covered by bundles of willow-but this was prone to erosion, hence why the floods of 1993 happened. Now, specially designed barges have been erected, back away from shore laying concrete mattresses measuring 25m x 8m. The process is repeated until the bank is covered from the deepest point of the river to above the flood level. St. Louis levée is made of reinforced concrete. Standing at 15.8m high (and 18km long), protects St. Louis, because that is where the confluence of the Missouri and the Mississippi meet. (1993 flood peak was 15.05m, but the levée withstood the water's weight.)

# data[].attributes.body
Straightening and shortening courseBy cutting through narrow necks of several large meanders. Between 1934 and 1945, a 530km stretch of river was shortened by almost 300km. By decreasing the distance, the gradient increases, hence the speed increases--so flood water is transported away quicker.

Dams and reservoirsThe Missouri River (tributary): 6 huge dams built on it, creating 1600km chain of 105 reservoirs that prevent flooding, provide water supply, and HEP.

Dams and reservoirs 2The Tennessee River (tributary): Tennessee Valley Authorities (TVA) set up in 1930s have many functions, one of which is to control flooding of this river. 9 reservoirs on the main river (e.g. Kentucky, Nick-a-Jack, Wilson, Wheeler..) 10 reservoirs on its tributariers The TVA is a multipurpose scheme which:

controls flooding

provides a water supply

produces hydro-electricity

improves navigation

increases afforestation

reduces soil erosion

encourages industry

encourages tourism

# data[].attributes.body
Location: The Mississippi River of the U.S and of North America, flows south from Lake Itasca, in Northern Minnesota, to the Gulf of Mexico, in Louisiana.

Size: The Mississippi River is the third longest river in North America. It’s length is 740 mi. or 6,020 km. in length.

The Mississippi River acts as a watershed for over 1.2 million square miles,and includes tributary rivers from 32 states and two Canadian provinces.

# data[].attributes.body
The Mississippi Basin occupies the center section of the contiguous 48 states of the United

States. From its headwaters in upper Minnesota, the Mississippi runs 3,700 km to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico, some 145 km below New Orleans, Louisiana. Its drainage basin is the fourth largest in the world, with over 360,000 km 2, and includes 41% of the contiguous US (portions of 31 states) and parts of two Canadian provinces. Its tributaries include the second and third largest rivers in the US, as well as numerous smaller, yet still imposing rivers. Flood-prone areas in the basin are found adjacent to the Mississippi and its tributaries, with the largest flood-prone region found in the 90,650 km 2 Lower Mississippi River Valley. This valley varies in width from 32 km to 129 km across, with an average width of 73 km

# data[].attributes.body
Mississippi River is in Mississippi, USA

# data[].attributes.body
The TVA has also been responsible for planting many trees. The trees delay run-off and reduce the amount of water reaching the river.

# data[].attributes.body
By cutting through meanders, the Mississippi has been straightened and shortened. For 1750 kilometers, the river travels through artificial channels. By making the course starighter and shorter, floodwater could be removed from the basin as soon as possible. However, this poses a threat as it causes increased levels of erosion to the river banks (increase in river velocity).

# data[].attributes.body
Dams & Reservoirs - 6 huge reservoirs have been built along the River Missouri to store excess water with a further 19 along the Tennessee River and its tributaries

Afforestation - The Tennessee Valley Authority has been increasing tree cover to delay run off into rivers

Levees - Have been strengthened with concrete mattresses to reduce erosion of the river banks

Diversionary Spillways - These are overflow channels which can store excess water in times of flood and release it after the risk of floods have passed

FEMA - The Federal Emergency Management Agency has published risk assessments and encourages at risk settlements to move off the flood plain

Flood Forecasting - The National Weather Authority are now responsible for flood warnings along the river

# data[].attributes.body
Soft engineering defences use knowledge of the rivers drainage basin and its processes try to work with nature

- Flood warning systems: Allow people time to move their possessions and evacuate

- Insurance: Spreads the cost of damage caused by flooding

- Flood plain zoning: Placing restrictions on land usage in the areas surrounding a river

- Afforestation: Increasing the number of trees to increase interception

- Wetland restoration: Creating conditions that are favourable for the development of wetlands (marshes or swamps)

- River restoration: restoring a river that has undergone hard engineering back to its original course

# data[].attributes.body
The Mississippi River could reach up to 10 feet above flood stage by the middle of next week in parts of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, according to the nationalweather service(NWS).

As much as six inches of rain is expected in some areas throughout the Midwest on Friday, which could be enough to cause damaging floods, according to NWS. Although the Mississippi River was approaching record low levels during the winter, recent significant rain has pushed the river to near-flooding in several areas.

# data[].attributes.body
soft engineering methods have increased the time taken for water to enter the channel, reduced the amount of water that does enter the channel, created a channel that has a larger cross section and so can accomodate a larger volume of water and moved people away from the most vulnerable areas

# data[].attributes.body
The river basin is the fifth largest in the world

It is the third longest river in the world behind the Nile & the Amazon

The river discharges 584 million tonnes of sediment a year

The flood plain is 200km wide at its widest point

The Mississippi flows through 10 states

The river carries 13% of all freight traffic in the USA

Its main tributaries are the R. Ohio,  R. Kansas, R. Missouri & the Red River

# data[].attributes.body
Levees used to consist only of soil covered by bundles of willow and were vulnerable to erosion by the river. Now a specially designed barge backs away from the shore laying concrete mattresses, each mattress measuring 25 metres by 8 metres. The process is repeated until the bank is covered from the deepest point of the river to above the flood level.

# data[].attributes.body
Approximately 600 river forecast points in the Midwestern United States were above flood stage at the same time. Nearly 150 major rivers and tributaries were affected

# data[].attributes.body
A levee burst caused the Mississippi floods of 1993, as 17 levees were breached flooding 70 thousand acres of farmland.

# data[].attributes.body
Spillways. Under flood conditions, the best way to take pressure off a place downstream is to let water flow upstream. E.g. the Morganza spillway. Opening up a spillway's gates creates an intentional flood somewhere in order to spare another place elsewhere.

Revetments. Revetments are a way of strengthening the outer bank of a river to keep it from eroding. Over 360 miles of the river in the New Orleans district alone have been revetted.

Weirs.  a structure that's built under the surface of the river's water to change the flow characteristics of the water. Bendway weirs are a popular concept for reducing erosion and meandering problems? Weirs angled upstream appear to cut down on the amount of erosion on the outer bank of the river by minimizing the secondary currents of the river spinning outward. Over 190 bendway weirs have been built in the Mississippi since 1989.

# data[].attributes.headline
Climatic changes influenced the 1993 Mississippi flood

# data[].attributes.subject
Climatic changes influenced the 1993 Mississippi flood

# data[].attributes.body
From April and all through the summer, record heavy rain fell across the north part of the Mississippi drainage basin. This was partly caused by high pressure system around Bermuda. Thunderstorms brought torrential rain in June and July adding to the rising waters. Rainfall in these two months was the highest since 1895.

# data[].attributes.body
The Missouri River: Much of the Missouri, which is longer than the Mississippi, appears on a modern atlas map to be a series of long lakes. Six huge dams have created 1600 km chain of 105 reservoirs which, apart from preventing flooding, provide