U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet 025-99

March 2000

Mississippi

Rivers and Floods

In 1999, the U.S. Geological Survey

(USGS) celebrated 100 years of

surface-water data collection in

Mississippi. Daily stage and discharge records for the Tombigbee

River at Columbus date back to

October 1899, marking the beginning

of a program of data collection on

Mississippi rivers and streams that

would eventually involve partnerships with dozens of Federal, State,

and local agencies. The data that are

collected are stored in computerized

local and national databases and

disseminated to cooperators, educational institutions, private organizations, and the public in published

reports and on the Internet.

The surface-water data-collection

program in Mississippi involves the

collection of continuous stage and

discharge information at more than

100 sites and the collection of annual

peak stage and discharge data for a

network of nearly 100 additional

sites. These data provide information

needed to monitor and evaluate the

flow characteristics of Mississippi

streams. Data from each site in the

continuous-record network are

transmitted by satellite to the USGS

office in Pearl, the information is

processed, and then it is provided to

the public and other water-resource

agencies on the Internet at http://

ms.water.usgs.gov. This Web page

also provides historical data and other

information about Mississippi

streams.

In addition to providing the information needed by other agencies to

monitor streamflow conditions and to

manage reservoirs and waterways, the

value of realtime telemetry is being

demonstrated through the activation

of the Pearl River Flood Tracking

System (fig. 1). The Pearl River,

which flows through Jackson and

several other communities, including

a part of Louisiana, has a welldocumented history of severe floods,

which have resulted in significant

losses of lives and property. This

basinwide system was developed in

cooperation with Federal, State and

local agencies, and it provides:

• A flood-tracking chart that provides guidance on relating flood

information at nearby gaging

stations to a specific floodthreatened property.

• Internet access to an interactive

version of the flood-tracking

chart that allows simultaneous

monitoring of multiple gaging

stations and integrates current

river conditions, National

Weather Service flood forecasts,

and historical flood information

into an easy-to-understand

graphic for each queried site.

• Timed FAX distribution of

current river conditions and

flood forecasts to key agencies

and news media.

http://ms.water.usgs.gov/ms_proj/flood_tracking/

Pearl River Basin Flood Tracking >> Notice: Provisional Data

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Columbia

Tylertown

Bogalusa

Picayune

McComb

Brookhaven

Hazlehurst

Mendenhall

Forest

Carthage

Louisville

Philadelphia

Brandon

Monticello

Location Map

EXPLANATION

Interstate

U.S. Highway

State Highway

City

Gaging Station

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Kosciusko

Figure 1. USGS and National Weather Service information for several sites on

the Pearl River.
science for a changing world

• Telephone modem access to USGS

databases for emergency management agencies.

Hurricanes and tropical storms

provide important opportunities for

the USGS to assist other agencies

involved in flood-response efforts. In

the aftermath of Hurricane Georges,

USGS crews collected and disseminated flood-flow, flood-profile, and

storm-surge data important for

assessing and mitigating damages.

In addition to monitoring flood

conditions in the State, the USGS has

compiled an extensive database of

historical flood information for

Mississippi streams. Bridge-site

studies use this historical data with

hydrologic analyses of the basins and

hydraulic analyses of flooding

potential to determine the floodfrequency and hydraulic characteristics of proposed highway bridges.

This information provides the basis

for the design of highways and

drainage structures, and it is used by

State and local agencies to guide

floodplain management. The results

of the bridge-site studies, which have

been ongoing since 1951 and have

generated reports for more than 2,100

sites, recently have been compiled

into a geographic information system

(GIS) database.

Drinking Water and Irrigation

Ground water supplies 80 percent of

all the freshwater used in Mississippi,

and the demand for freshwater is

expected to increase. The USGS, in

cooperation with State and local

agencies, investigates ground-water

resources in Mississippi and maintains one of the Nation’s largest

water-well databases, which includes

information on lithology, water

quality, well construction, and water

levels.

The USGS is constructing a computer-based model of ground-water

flow in the Mississippi River alluvial

aquifer in northwestern Mississippi.

The model will simulate the response

of the aquifer to pumping as well as

the recharge process and the interaction between the aquifer and the

streams that are in contact with it.

This aquifer provides water to one of

the Nation’s intensively farmed and

productive agricultural areas, and it is

one of the most heavily pumped

aquifers in the world.

The USGS also is updating the

hardware, software, and operating

instructions for ground-water flow

models that have been developed and

calibrated for the major aquifers in

Mississippi in recent years. Simulations can then be conducted by the

USGS to respond to public requests

for water-resources information and

to requests by other agencies involved in regulatory and management

decisions.

Environment

The goal of the National WaterQuality Assessment Program is to

describe the status and trends in the

quality of a large part of the Nation’s

water resources. Assessment of the

Mississippi Embayment, which

covers an area of about 49,800 square

miles and includes parts of Arkansas,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi,

Missouri, and Tennessee, began in

1994. Since then, water samples have

been collected at more than 50

streams and from 120 wells. Samples

from these sites have been analyzed

for the occurrence and distribution of

common inorganic constituents, trace

elements, nutrients, pesticides, and

other organic compounds. The

amounts of nutrients and suspended

sediment transported by streams are

being determined. Ecological characteristics of the streams, including

algal, fish, and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities, are being

evaluated as indicators of water

quality. Organochlorine compounds

and trace elements have been measured in fish tissue and bed sediment.

More information and publications

from this project can be found at

http://ms.water.usgs.gov/misenawqa.

The Mississippi Delta Management

Systems Evaluation Area Project is an

interagency study to assess how

agricultural activities affect the water

resources in the Mississippi Delta and

to increase the knowledge available

for designing and evaluating management practices as components of

farming systems. The study is being

conducted at nine sites within three

Delta oxbow-lake watersheds, where

cotton production is the primary land

use. Since 1995, more than 1,350

sediment, 460 pesticide, and 500

nutrient samples have been collected

at sites with and without various

management practices. Preliminary

findings indicate that the quality of

runoff has improved most at locations

in the watershed where a combination

of cultural and structural practices

have been in place.

In support of the Demonstration

Erosion Control Project, the USGS is

monitoring suspended-sediment

concentration and discharge in the

upper Yazoo River Basin in northcentral Mississippi. This multiagency

project is designed to evaluate a

broad range of erosion-control

techniques in basins that have experienced decades of severe erosion. At

the opposite end of the State, monitoring of coastal water quality is

providing the water-level, temperature, and salinity data that are important to the efficient management of

oyster and shrimp resources in the

Mississippi Sound.

Wetland ecology, hydrology, mapping, and GIS technology are being
Mississippi

used in an interagency study to

identify wetland restoration areas in

the lower Yazoo River Basin. This

project uses a newly developed

digital elevation model and hydrologic projections to examine flood

frequencies and flood duration in

areas that are classified as having

optimal soil conditions and landscape

characteristics for supporting wetlands.

The USGS is identifying the efficiency of instream structures used to

protect stream habitat and native fish.

Of particular interest is the dwindling

population of Gulf Coast-strain

walleye, which is native to the

Mobile River Basin.

Waterway deepening, either by

channelization or localized streambottom mining, can initiate a process

known as “headcutting.” Headcutting

is a widespread cause of warmwater

stream degradation. Headcutting also

is associated with streambed widening, increased water velocity, loss of

streamside vegetation from bank

erosion and sloughing, increased

sedimentation, and deteriorated water

quality. In short, “headcutting” causes

the habitat to change rapidly, usually

to the detriment of fish communities.

In an effort to curtail headcutting, the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is

evaluating the effectiveness of lowhead rock dams or grade-control

structures (GCS). Evaluations to date

indicate that GCS may forestall

headcutting. However, the effects of

these structures on fish migration are

not fully known. Therefore, USGS

scientists have inserted radio transmitters in walleye to track the fish

and evaluate their ability to migrate

with GCS (fig. 2). Understanding the

effects of the GCS on fish migration

is especially important for Luxapalila

Creek, one of the few remaining

spawning streams of the State-listed

Gulf Coast-strain walleye. Current

research indicates that walleye can

migrate past the GCS, but migration

cannot be expected every year

without modification of the GCS.

Successful upstream migration is only

one component of sustaining this

endangered population. Based on

spawning requirements for other

riverspawning walleye strains,

suitable spawning and early life-stage

habitat are present in Luxapalila

Creek. However, after extensive

sampling, no larval or juvenile

walleye were found. Furthermore,

adult walleye collected during 1997

and 1998 were found to be hatcheryproduced offspring of Gulf Coaststrain walleye broodstock (fig. 3).

In Mississippi, scientists from the

USGS study invasive and exotic

species, fire ecology, bottomland

hardwoods, and seagrasses. USGS

research on exotic species includes

exotic cogon grass at the Mississippi

Sandhill Crane National Wildlife

Refuge and invasion of woody plants

into abandoned agriculture fields in

the Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge.

Fire research examines the effects of

controlled burning on wet pine

savanna habitat that is being restored

for the endangered Mississippi

sandhill crane, carnivorous plants,

and other species at risk at the Crane

Refuge.

Nationally, more than 80 percent of

the historical southern forested

wetlands has been lost, yet the

remaining 20 percent still accounts

for more than one-third of all wetlands in the lower 48 States. In an

attempt to understand what the

Nation has lost, the USGS is conducting genetic diversity research of

bottomland hardwoods in the Hillside, Noxubee, Panther, and Yazoo

National Wildlife Refuges. Finally,

the USGS conducts seagrass mapping

in areas of the Gulf Islands National

Seashore.

Energy Resources

Information about the location,

quantity, and quality of the Nation’s

coal resources to be consumed during

the next 20 years will be needed by

national and regional planners. In the

National Coal Assessment Program,

the USGS will work with the Mississippi Office of Geology to identify

the location and quality of coal

resources in the State, including coal

that may be suitable for export, on

public and private lands. The USGS

is providing information to several

Federal and State agencies that is

intended to aid Mississippi and its

industry in developing strategies to

mitigate problems associated with

acid rain and acidic mine drainage

Figure 2. Installing a radiotransmitter

in a walleye pike. The signals from

these devices are used to track

migrating fish.

Figure 3. Electrofishing is used to

sample fish communities and to

collect fish for contamination studies

in the streams and rivers in

Mississippi.
Printed on recycled paper

USGS office locations USGS State Representative

Bay

St. Louis

The USGS has 112

employees in 

Mississippi

Pearl

Starkville

Vicksburg

308 South Airport Road

Pearl, MS 39208-6649

601-933-2900

FAX (601) 933-2901

USGS Home Page

http://www.usgs.gov

Reports and products

1-888-ASK-USGS

caused by the mining and burning of

coal.

The USGS STATEMAP program is

supporting detailed mapping by the

Mississippi Office of Geology of

north-central Mississippi, where

economically significant deposits of

lignite are being considered for

power generation. Lignite production

will require strip mining and construction of a power plant. This part

of the State also is a recharge area for

an important aquifer where protection

of the ground-water supply is necessary.

Mapping

The USGS has developed a strategy

to help identify the 7.5-minute

topographic maps that are in demand

and need revision. This plan uses

monthly sales of USGS maps as one

criterion to determine the demand

and set priorities in the map revision

process. Those maps that need to be

revised and are in high demand will

be authorized. Other maps are

selected for revision by cooperating

agencies. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality,

Office of Geology, selects the maps

to be revised under a cost-sharing

agreement with the USGS. The

topographic map of the Jackson area

has been revised, with the Mississippi

Office of Geology providing onsite or

field verification of buildings and

other features and also accurate

control for the contour revisions.

Cooperative Programs

The work of the USGS in Mississippi

is accomplished, in part, through

cooperation with local, State, and

other Federal agencies who share in

the planning and financial support of

the program. Local and State agencies that provided funding and

services in support of water resources

during 1995-2000 include the City of

Jackson; the Harrison County Board

of Supervisors; the Harrison County

Development Commission; the

Jackson County Board of Supervisors; the Jackson County Port Authority; the Mississippi Automated

Resource Information Systems; the

Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce; the Mississippi

Department of Environmental

Quality, Office of Land and Water

Resources, Office of Pollution

Control, and Office of Geology; the

Mississippi Department of Marine

Resources; the Mississippi Department of Transportation; the Mississippi Emergency Management

Agency; the Mississippi Rural Water

Association; the Mississippi Soil and

Water Conservation Commission; the

Mississippi State Department of

Health; the Pat Harrison Waterway

District; the Pearl River Basin

Development District; the Pearl River

Valley Water Supply District; and the

Yazoo Mississippi Delta Joint Water

Management District. Federal agencies include the Bureau of Land

Management; the Federal Emergency

Management Agency; the U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers, Mobile District

and Vicksburg District; the U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Natural

Resources Conservation Service; the

U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Region IV and Region IX;

and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service. Also, the USGS works with

and provides support to the Mississippi Water Resources Research

Institute, which conducts programs

involving research, education, and

information and technology transfer.