Mississippi River back from the river, it is normally dry on both sides. Even if it failed at the crest during a severe flood, the flood waters would have to erode to normal water levels before the Mississippi could permanently jump channel at this location. During the 2011 floods, the Corps of Engineers opened the Morganza Spillway to 1/4 of its capacity to allow 150,000 ft/sec of water to flood the Morganza and Atchafalaya floodways and continue directly to the Gulf of Mexico, bypassing Baton Rouge and New Orleans. In addition to reducing the Mississippi River crest downstream, this diversion reduced the
Pequannoc Spillway which lies on the Pompton River. The Pequannoc Spillway is an early 20th-century concrete spillway over 270 feet wide, equal in girth to the Great Falls of Paterson located along the Pompton River a quarter-mile south of the Pompton dam and associated guard bank in Pequannock Township's Aquatic Park. The dam is a run-of-the-river spillway, which traverses the width of the river and at normal water elevation allows water to spill over its face. The structure is 22 feet tall, though possesses only an 8-inch over 3 foot grade on the upstream side. An associated guard house sits near the