2011 Mississippi River floods and this connection implies persistence of dry conditions for the next 2 to 3 years. During the 2011 floods, concerns were raised that the Mississippi might divert its main channel into the Atchafalaya Basin if the Old River Control Structure, the Morganza Spillway, or nearby levees failed, or into Lake Pontchartrain if the Bonnet Carré Spillway or adjacent levees failed. Jeff Masters of the "Weather Underground" noted that failure of the Old River Control Structure "would be a serious blow to the U.S. economy, and the great Mississippi flood of 2011 will give [this structure] its most severe test ever."
Pequannoc Spillway site in poor repair. Like its sister structure the Pompton Dam, the Pequannoc Spillway was originally made entirely of timber. Constructed in the early 19th century the Pequannoc Spillway aided in navigation upriver along the Morris Canal during its almost 100 years of use. The structure was also part of a system to maintain water levels along portions of the Pompton River and Ramapo River which were at the time of their construction a part of the Morris Canal. The removal of the spillway was advocated against in the 1920s by C.C. Vermeule, Decommissioning Engineer for the Morris Canal and