Yes, but any good flood control construction should take that into account. I’m not sure it has.
YogSosoth:
chacoguy is talking about the Colorado, not the Missisippi. What he is saying is simply that the Mississippi near Baton Rouge has 200 times the flow of the Colorado in Utah where he lives.
The Colorado river is famous in American history. And vitally important in the West both then & now. But it’s really not all that big in terms of flow.
The Morganza & related structures were designed to deal with the flow of the Mississipi. So yes, the Corps prepared exactly for this.
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John McPhee discussed the subject very well here. Pre-Katrina but still applicable and still very readable.
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I was surprised to see the amount from the book that’s presented in that article. Short of reading the book, that’s a pretty good vehicle for conveying the jist of its message.
If you find that interesting though, please don’t hesitate to get the book and immerse yourself in the entire story. Not only is McPhee’s analysis and telling of the efforts to confine the Mississippi fascinating, he also delves into man’s attempts to exert his influence upon the coastal hillsides of California and the volcanic flows of Iceland. In the end, we come to realize the folly of our minuscule efforts in comparison to the might of nature. An alltime classic, McPhee translates scientific truths into a language for the layman. A must read, to be sure.
BTW, many of his other works are equally awesome, Basin and Range, From a Birch Bark Canoe, In Suspect Terrain, etc.
Darn it, that’s The Survival of the Bark Canoe.