Excerpt
Traders, explorers and early settlers of the American West traveling the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the Mississippi River eagerly awaited the river's seasonal rises and flooding. Late fall rains in October through November and spring rains and winter snowmelt from the Appalachian Mountains signaled the river would soon rise above its rocky bottom and flood the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville, Kentucky (figure 1), enabling navigation. The trip up and down the Ohio River in all seasons was a dangerous adventure with river flows blocked and diverted by fallen trees, floating logs, and rocks. Some summers the water levels were so low that boats were grounded and horse drawn wagons easily crossed the river, and in winter the frozen waters brought all navigation to a halt (Olson and Morton 2016).
The Ohio River was and is today a critical transportation artery connecting the East Coast and the Midwest. An economic driver of the region and nation, this inland waterway carries raw materials, agricultural commodities, and finished products used within the United States and exported to countries around the world. It is used by municipalities, industries, fishers, recreational boaters, birdwatchers, and naturalists that value the river ecosystem for…
- © 2019 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society