71st SWCS International Annual Conference July 24-27, 2016 Louisville, KY

1. The presses and pulses of
the Ohio River and its tributaries
Lois Wright Morton and Kenneth R. Olson
Department of Sociology, Iowa State University
Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois
Soil and Water Conservation Society Conference
Managing Great River Landscapes
Louisville, KY 2016 July 27

2. Ohio River
Basin
Upper
Mississippi
River
Tennesse
River
Cumberland River
Wabash River
Ohio River
Ohio River
Ohio River
Lower
Mississippi
River Rivers
Legend
1900 km
State
Borders
N
Illinois
Indiana
Ohio
West
Virginia
Virginia
Pennsylvania
Tennesse
North Carolina
South Carolina
Alabama
Mississippi
Georgia
Virginia
Kentucky
Ohio River Basin
Mainstem Ohio River runs 981 miles from Pittsburgh, PA
to Cairo, IL confluence with Mississippi River
Encompasses 204,000 sq mi
Home to 25 million people

3. Presses and pulses of river systems
Presses alter the structure of the river in small increments
e.g. upland soil erosion; bank erosion from river current;
river sedimentation; wetland and backwater vegetation;
trees (snags) fall into the river; temperature (ice formation)
and “normal” rain and snow events; human settlements
and land uses ……………

4. Dredging Ohio River at Metropolis
August 2006
port and channel siltation;
channel erosion and incremental path shifts;
changes in hydrology; water velocity;
replenishment of nutrients in river wetlands and backwaters

5. 2016 June 23rd
< 10 inches of rain
over West Virginia
Elk River, West Virginia
record 33.37 feet
23 people dead
Elk River, mountain headwaters
of the Kanawha River;
main tributary of the Ohio River
Pulses transform the social & river ecosystem functions suddenly
eg. Floods; drought; invasive species tipping points (Asian flying carp);
river basin land use/development;
climate tipping points (glacial ice dams; sea level rise)

6. Falls of Ohio Clarksville, IN October 2015
Historical presses and pulses impact
Ohio River navigation

7. Navigating the Ohio River
When Lewis and Clark traveled down the Ohio River in 1803 the
water depth was very low and they had to portage around the “Falls
of Ohio River”.
The Louisville portage. Steam boats had to drop off passengers and
freight on one end of falls, transport them overland, and then load
back on a different steam boat.
1824 US. Congress authorized the systematic removal of snags and
other obstructions
1825 construction began on canal with 3 locking chambers around
the “Great Falls of Ohio River” near Louisville, Kentucky.
1830 Steam boats could travel through the canal even in droughts.

8. Presses. Trade, economic, political, social,
ecological…connecting the US east to west

9. The Ohio River,
National Road,
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Gateway to the west
Wheeling Virginia (WV)

10. Pulses. Record setting floods
The Great Flood of 1937; 4 weeks of back to back storms,
1000 year flood; worst disaster to strike the Ohio River Valley on record
Major Flood Stage 1937 Crest Record Flood Crest 2011 Flood
Feet Feet Year Feet Feet
Pittsburg, PA
28.5 35.0 1936 46.4 26.6
Confluence Allegheny,
Monongahela, Ohio
Parkersburg, WV
42.0 55.4 1913 58.9 30.0
Cincinnati, OH
65.0 80.0 1884 71.1 55.4
Louisville, KY
57.1
Downstream McAlpine
73.0 85.4 1945 74.4 62.9
McAlpine upper
38.0 52.2 1945 42.1 31.1
Evansville, IN
52.0 54.0 1913 48.4 46.8
Paducah, KY
52.0 60.8 1913 54.3 55.0
Cairo, IL
53.0 59.5 1975 56.5 61.7
Confluence Mississippi, Ohio

11. Managing river presses and pulses
Locks and dams; Reservoirs; Flood walls; Wetlands &
backwaters; Climate science, weather forecasts; Engineering
structures; Upland land and bottomland management;
Settlement and development patterns; Agricultural raw and
finished products; Coal, iron ore, steel; Industrial siting;
Drinking water; Water quality; Recreation
National priorities: navigation, flood control, economic development

12. State Borders
Legend
160 km
N Rivers
Locks and dams
Kentucky
West Virginia
PennsylvaniaOhioIndianaIllinois
Missouri
Cairo
Olmsted
Newburgh
Cannelton
Smithland
John T. Meyers
53 52
Cities
McAlpine
Louisville
Markland
Greenup
Captain
Anthony Meldahl
RC Byrd
Racine
Bellville
Willow Island
Pike Island
Wheeling
New Cumberland
Montgomery Island Dashields
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Hannibal
Emsworth
20 locks and dams on
Ohio River in 2016
Lock and dam system on entire length of Ohio River;
9 foot deep shipping channel; 51 movable dams with wooden
wickets & lock 600 x110 foot chambers (by 1929);
length of the locks doubled in 1950s
1910 Rivers and Harbors Act

13. Louisville Kentucky July 2016

14. McAlpine Dam at Louisville October 2015
Navigating the Falls of Ohio

15. Flood Control
US government responsible for planning,
financing and operating flood control
structures.
Flood control investments in levees,
floodwalls, and storage reservoirs to better
manage river flooding
Paducah, Kentucky 2015
1937 60.8’
1884 54.2’
1913 54.3’

16. Kentucky and Barkley reservoirs on the
Cumberland and Tennessee rivers
USACE can maintain 3.3 feet of additional water over the 9 foot
Ohio River shipping canals as a result of the Kentucky and
Barkley reservoirs during a drought
As a result of the
Kentucky and Barkley
reservoirs the New
Madrid floodway (built
between 1928 and
1932) was not open of
74 years (between 1937
and 2011).

17. Presses and
pulses of
the future
3rd US National Climate Assessment

18. People and places
The Ohio River at Wheeling, West Virginia October 2015
The river is a source of
social, economic, cultural
and political vitality

19. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2015
Ohio River port cities …inland waterway
to New Orleans, Panama Canal…the world

20. New Cumberland, West Virginia 2015

21. Cincinnati, Ohio 2015

22. Louisville, Kentucky 2015

23. Lower Ohio River navigation. Locks and dams,
No. 52 and No. 53 are currently being replaced
No. 52

24. Olmstead lock and dam
5 Tainter gates;
1400 foot navigable pass;
steel wicket gates & fixed weir;
locks 110’ wide x1200’ long

25. River backwaters, main channel, islands,
wetlands, rock ledges, mud flats, river bottoms
home to diversity of fish, plants and animals
adapted to seasonal wet and dry, hot and cold
Need to develop metrics of value; and monitor
changes to the river ecosystem and adjacent
land uses
Challenges to the river ecosystem
125 species of fish in the Ohio River
270 different species of birds at the Falls of Ohio

26. Morning mist on the Ohio River

27. Smithland lock and dam October 22, 2014