November '24 Trivia

Hello, Readers. In an effort to give you something neutral to discuss at Thanksgiving gatherings, I give you River Trivia. You’ll find questions on hydrology, dams, locks, dredging, flood management, plus specific questions about the Ohio River in the aftermath of the Great Flood of 1937. Try them out at “the kids’ table” too.

Thanks to everyone who reached out about October ‘24 Trivia. I love knowing that something I’ve written has made you ponder. In case you missed it or would like to share it (please do!) click the link below.

Note to my fabulous new subscribers:

Monthly trivia is for sport. It’s not a test of intelligence or character. I couldn’t answer these questions without a significant amount of research, either! Do your best and enjoy learning something new. Answers in the footnotes.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the term for the total amount of water flowing past a given point in a river over a specified period?¹
   a) Water Table
   b) Discharge
   c) Runoff

2. What is one primary purpose of constructing a dam on a river?²
   a) To increase sediment transport
   b) To increase biodiversity
   c) To generate hydroelectric power
   d) To prevent aquatic life migration

3. What is the function of a lock in river navigation?³
   a) To stop water from flowing downstream
   b) To raise or lower ships between sections of a river with different water levels
   c) To prevent fish from migrating upstream

4. What is a common purpose of dredging in river management?⁴
   a) To decrease sedimentation in reservoirs
   b) To remove sediment and maintain navigation channels

   c) To build dams
   d) To create artificial lakes

5. What is a common method used to reduce the impact of river flooding in urban areas?⁵
   a) Channelization
   b) Dredging
   c) Levees and floodwalls
   d) Water diversion tunnels

6. In the Ohio River region, certain species have experienced conservation success and are no longer listed as endangered. One notable example was removed from Ohio's endangered species list in 2012 after substantial population recovery efforts. Its resurgence is attributed to habitat protection, environmental regulations like the banning of DDT, and ongoing conservation programs. What species is this?⁶

   1. Bald eagle

   2. Longheaded darter fish

   3. Red-tailed hawk

   4. Scioto madtom

7. The Great Flood of 1937, also known as the Ohio River flood, was a catastrophic flood that occurred in late January and February of 1937. How many people were known to be killed in that cataclysmic event?⁷

   1. 189

   2. 248

   3. 385

8. Which of the following cities was 95% submerged during that flood?⁸

   1. Louisville, Kentucky

   2. Jeffersonville, Indiana

   3. Paducah, Kentucky

9. Yes or no to each option: did Franklin Delano Roosevelt visit this city in the wake of the flood?⁹

   1. Cincinnati, Ohio

   2. Louisville, Kentucky

   3. Evansville, Indiana

   4. Paducah, Kentucky

10. The Flood Control Act of 1938 authorized extensive federal investments in dams, levees, and other flood control structures. Which of the following is/are true about the Act and its outcomes?¹⁰

    1. By constricting rivers with levees, areas on either side of the levees can see higher water levels and more destructive flooding.

    2. The focus on structural solutions often neglected the natural functions of floodplains, leading to habitat loss and disruption of ecosystems.

    3. The Act primarily targeted major river basins, leaving smaller communities and tributaries vulnerable to flooding.

1. b) Discharge. The discharge of a river refers to the volume of water flowing past a specific point over time, typically measured in cubic meters per second (m³/s). I might have guessed runoff, but it’s precipitation that doesn't soak into the ground, but instead flows across the Earth's surface. It can come from rain, snowmelt, or irrigation.

2. c) To generate hydroelectric power. While dams serve multiple purposes like water supply, flood control, and recreation, generating hydroelectric power is a primary reason for their construction.

3. b) To raise or lower ships between sections of a river with different water levels.

4. b) To remove sediment and maintain navigation channels.

5. c) Levees and floodwalls. A levee is an embankment built to prevent the overflow of a river while a floodwall is a permanent, freestanding engineered structure. I wrote about floodwall murals here.

6. a) Bald eagle. That said, the longheaded darter fish was considered to extinct since 1939 but was seen in the river in 2022. Here’s that fascinating story with pictures. The Scioto madtom was declared extinct in January, 2024. This little catfish was found only in Ohio in one small section of Big Darby Creek, which flows into the Scioto River (a tributary of the Ohio). If the Scioto madtom had lived in other states and could still be found in those places, it would have just been declared “extirpated,” or disappeared, from Ohio. Alas, this means the madtom is extinct. Story and pictures here.

7. c) 385 were killed, one million people were left homeless, and $500 million in property losses were recorded. The crest of the flood in Louisville was 10 feet higher than the second highest crest, set in 1945, and Churchill Downs race track provided temporary housing.

8. c) Paducah. It makes sense that Paducah would have been so inundated since it’s so far downriver and at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee with the Mississippi just 30 miles west. As the Mississippi spilled over its banks, tributary rivers like the Ohio experienced surges of water since the increase of water in the Mississippi decreased the release of tributary water into the mother river. Louisville was 70% submerged and Jeffersonville was 90%. Here’s a picture of a Paducah car dealership, courtesy of the McCracken County Public Library.

9. Yes to all. These visits helped bring national attention to the disaster, resulting in increased funding and legislative support for flood control projects, including the 1938 Flood Control Act, which initiated significant improvements along the Ohio River.

10. All three are true. If you’re a true river rat, consider reading Holding Back the River by Tyler J. Kelley, longlisted for the 2022 PEN/ E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. From the back cover: America’s great rivers are the very lifeblood of our country. We need them for nourishing crops, for cheap bulk transportation, for hydroelectric power, and for fresh drinking water. Rivers are also part of our mythology, our collective soul; they are Mark Twain, the Delta blues, and Led Zeppelin. But as infrastructure across the nation fails and climate change pushes rivers and seas to new heights, we’ve arrived at a critical moment in our battle to tame these often-destructive forces of nature.