Study: flood control engineering likely has worsened floods

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Flood control work in the Mississippi River and its tributaries has likely made floods worse in Mississippi and Louisiana, researchers say.

Using 500 years of data from tree rings and from sediment in oxbow lakes — bends that once were part of the Mississippi River but became lakes when the river changed its path slightly — they say the river has flooded more often and poured more water into those states over the past 150 years than any previous period.

Climate change may be responsible for about one-quarter of the difference, they estimate.