Mississippi river case study

Question 1

How long is the Mississippi river?

Answer 1

3,734 km

Question 2

How many people had to move when the river flooded?

Answer 2

4,400

Question 3

Where is it located?

Answer 3

South-East

Question 4

How much damage did it cost when it flooded?

Answer 4

$13 million

Question 5

How did they make the river deeper?

Answer 5

Raised levees

Question 6

How high were these levees?

Answer 6

15 metres

Question 7

How far did the levees stretch?

Answer 7

3000km

Question 8

How did they make the river flow faster?

Answer 8

They cut through meanders.

Question 9

What fraction of the USA’s water does the Mississippi river drain?

Answer 9

A third.

Question 10

How far did they cut through meanders for?

Answer 10

1750km

Question 11

How did they control the flow from the (main) tributaries?

Answer 11

Built dams

Question 12

Give an example of a main tributary; how far did they control it for?

Answer 12

Ohio river

100 Dams

Question 13

How did planting alot more trees help?

Answer 13

Increased interception and stabilised soil.

Question 14

What is it called when trees are planted?

Answer 14

Afforestation.

Question 15

Give an example of where trees were planted.

Answer 15

Tennessee Valley

Question 16

What is a ‘safe flood zone’?

Answer 16

Where building has been restricted or stopped in a flood plain.

Question 17

What happened to the existing houses on the floodplain?

Answer 17

It was bought by the county and demolished.

Question 18

How many people rely on the Mississippi for their water supply?

Answer 18

18 million.

Question 19

What is the source of the Mississippi?

Answer 19

Lake Itasca

Question 20

How big is the drainage basin?

Answer 20

2.981 million km²