Water Flow/Debit d'eauBy managing water flow and levels in the Mississippi watershed, the overall goal is to maximize the benefits of the water for the people, fish and wildlife living in, on, near or using the system. Water flows and levels are managed for (note these may vary depending on the time of year, location and circumstances):

• Flood control;
• Low flow augmentation;
• Ecological integrity;
• Recreation / tourism; and
• Hydro-generation.

Mississippi Valley Conservation (MVC) maintains a monitoring network of 10 automated lake level gauges, 13 automated steam flow gauges and 27 manual staff gauges (which are read on a weekly basis) at various locations throughout the watershed to monitor levels and flows across the Mississippi and Carp River watersheds. As well there are 10 automated tipping buckets which monitor precipitation throughout the year across the watersheds and a network of between 10 and 20 volunteers which manually collect rainfall data in any given year. MVC also monitors the snow pack at 13 snow course stations located throughout the watersheds from December 1 to April 15 each year.

Adapted from MVC: Mississippi River Water Management Plan Final Report