How can we prevent future flooding in the Mississippi River?
We should build turbine-like pumps, 10-20 feet in diameter, that can be anchored under bridges anywhere on the river. when a flood is forecast for an area, the pumps would be put in place down stream on as many bridges as necessary, so that when activated, they would increase the flow of the river by whatever multiple of its normal speed would be required to move the upstream river level down and the downstream level up. The raising and lowering of these two levels would make room for the excess waters from the rains or snow melt, or whatever is threatening a flood, and/or move it on down the river fast enough to prevent flooding. These pumps would require a huge investment, but I think it could be done for far, far less than the cost of just one of these floods we have seen in the recent past. I would think insurance companies might want to contribute, as would each state and city government along the river, as well as the federal government.
