What is the average annual discharge of the mississippi river

However, their direction is unknown. On the other hand, in contrast to changes driven by natural variability, these changes may be cumulative and sustained. Toward the end of the 20 th century, the rate of increase of water use and associated human-induced change in evapotranspiration slowed or stopped. If water use were to stabilize in the future, then further increases in runoff would not be needed in order to maintain the rate of discharge.

Milly, P. This information provides tools to help make PDF files accessible. In addition, an accessible version of Acrobat Reader 5. These tools and the accessible reader may be obtained free from Adobe at Adobe Access. The investigations and scientific results reported in this series require a nationally consistent streamgaging network with stable long-term monitoring sites and a rigorous program of data quality assurance, management, archiving, and synthesis.

NSIP produces multi-purpose, unbiased surface water information that is readily accessible to all. Figure 1. Mississippi River basin with major tributaries and state boundaries. The width of a river indicates its mean water discharge modified from Circular , Figure 5. Since January daily discharge in reports of the U. Prior to , published as Mississippi River near Vicksburg. Datum of gage is Army Corps of Engineers benchmark or The U.

Geological Survey operated a water-stage recorder over the cavity in the fourth pier from the left bank at a combined highway and railway bridge of Vicksburg Bridge Commission of Warren County, at southern city limits of Vicksburg, 1. Gages used by Mississippi River Commission: Dec.

All gages at same datum, but readings differ due to slope of water surface between them. Natural flow of stream affected by many reservoirs and navigation dams. Approximate station locations were subsequently mapped using ArcMap Corresponding year averages were mapped as proportional symbols. River lines width were mapped based on its hydrographic classification.

Basemap data were obtained from Natural Earth Data. Cartographic design for the project prioritized the discharge averages and the corresponding river. At Lake Itasca, the average flow rate is 6 cubic feet per second. At Upper St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the northern most Lock and Dam, the average flow rate is 12, cubic feet per second or 89, gallons per second. At New Orleans, the average flow rate is , cubic feet per second.

Some like to measure the size of a river is by the size of its watershed, which is the area drained by a river and its tributaries. The Mississippi River drains an area of about 3. The Mississippi River watershed is the fourth largest in the world, extending from the Allegheny Mountains in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west.

The Amazon for comparison drains about 7. Communities up and down the river use the Mississippi to obtain freshwater and to discharge their industrial and municipal waste. We don't have good figures on water use for the whole Mississippi River Basin, but we have some clues.

A frequently cited figure of 18 million people using the Mississippi River Watershed for water supply comes from a study by the Upper Mississippi River Basin Committee. The Environmental Protection Agency simply says that more than 50 cities rely on the Mississippi for daily water supply.

Agriculture has been the dominant land use for nearly years in the Mississippi basin, and has altered the hydrologic cycle and energy budget of the region. In measure of tonnage, the largest port district in the world is located along the Mississippi River delta in Louisiana. Representing million tons of shipped goods per year according to the Port of New Orleans , the Mississippi River barge port system is significant to national trade. Shipping at the lower end of the Mississippi is focused on petroleum and petroleum products, iron and steel, grain, rubber, paper, wood, coffee, coal, chemicals, and edible oils.

To move goods up and down the Mississippi, the U. There are 7. One cubic foot of water weighs A 48 foot semi-truck trailer is a 3, cubic foot container.