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 Pequannoc Spillway The Pequannoc Spillway is a run-of-the-river spillway constructed in the 1920s as part of the Morris Canal system in the Pompton Plains section of Pequannock, New Jersey on one bank of the river and Wayne, New Jersey on the other bank. The spillway creates usable waterfront land out of swamps and provides water retention by creating a backwater on the Ramapo River. The structure is listed as part of the Morris Canal on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places as well as the National Register of Historic Places. It is a sister structure to the Pompton dam