That Lawless Stream
Mark Twain once wrote, “ten thousand River Commissions, with the mines of the world at their back, cannot tame that lawless stream, cannot curb it or confine it.” These words are immortalized in his book Life on the Mississippi, and it’s no argument the prolific author had a close relationship to the Mississippi River. But in a way, his warning has been lost with time. The Mississippi River is more constricted than ever by levees and flood protection measures.
In some areas, agriculture and levee districts have raised their levees beyond authorized heights. If there is a severe flood, their land would stay dry while other places across the river, upstream, or downstream could experience up to 1.5 feet of extra water. This is an equity issue, one that must be told through the people affected by unlawful levees from their neighbors.
On this episode of Stories from the Floodplain, join PRN staff member and host Ryan Grosso as he journeys to Hannibal, Missouri, to hear from people who are fearful of an age of “levee wars.”
Supplement Audio:
The Valley of the Giant – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Life on the Mississippi – John Greenman, Librivox
Music:
Mississippi River Blues – Tommy Duncan and his Western All-Stars
Purple Planet Music (www.purple-planet.com)
“Bumbler” by Andy G. Cohen (Released under a Creative Commons Attribution International License)
Clocks – Adigold
When the Levee Breaks – Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie
