I got a new customer job to install secondary power to a beer barge. It was planned for boats leaving the marina up the Wolf River channel to stop by this barge and purchase their beer and ice for the day. In order to get secondary cable down to this barge a heavy duty lift pole was required. The question was "Where to set said pole on the waterfront?" This pole was necessary to span the secondary cables from a riser pole on the bank near Riverside Drive to this pole and the customer's secondary cable would tie into this cable at this proposed pole. The customer's cable had to be long enough to allow the beer barge to move in and out with the river rising and falling. The distance the barge would travel horizontally and vertically would vary with the rise and fall of the river. So, I called the Corps of Engineers and got the record low for the River at Memphis. With that information in hand, I sent a survey crew down to the waterfront to stake out the new pole halfway between high and low records. A class 1- 75' pole was set in 9 yards of concrete. It would have to be strong enough without stays or guy wires to handle all the weight of the able put upon it regardless of where the beer barge was due to the river stage. Well, the job was done late that spring after the spring rise had come and gone. That summer the Mississippi River set a new low and the beer barge wound up resting on the mud!
That is where “marktwained” came from. I read along his chapters describing his trip as a “cub pilot”, on same stretches, while I was steersman (cub pilot). At that point I felt I had been marktwained. My own made up verb for the experience.
My picture of what happens in a river like the Mississippi is that the bottom of the river probably resembles sand dunes progressing with the river current, moving a tremendous amount of sand in bed-load every second. A dune top that may be safely below the draft of a tow will not be if the river level drops enough. That dune-top has become a sand-bar. Maintaining navigation on any of the rivers has to be a constant challenge, especially one as dynamic as the lower Mississippi.
Funny you get the same questions from people. When we here in europe have low water, the news always rever to kaub gauge. They freak out when it says 40cm (1 foot something), say that you can cross the river by foot😂. Unfortunately at 40cm our barges can still run 150cm deep (5ft), and the river will be even way deeper in some spots. But every year its the same story.
Like the question asked at Starved Rock Lock & Dam, before I retired, when we were in flood. What is the river going to do? My answer was it's going to go as high as it's going to go and then go down, and then try to explain what we were seeing on the gauges. Our gauges were so sensitive that during slack water times you could see the tiny rise when Marseilles Lock dropped their pit. Now with remote gauges and satellite receivers, you can get a better feel for what is going on.
I can't imagine how much more difficult a skippers job was before various forms of sophisticated electronics devices refined it, to what it is today. Today, it's still fascinating to consider the many number of things that a skilled, experienced Captain must know to do his job effectively & comfortably.
Those old time pilots feeling around on bottom and moving slow with relatively light tonnage (compared to nowadays), would be shocked and amazed at what we do now. I don’t disrespect those old day pilots, but context of accomplishments needs mentioning. 👍🏻
Thank you, for replying Kyle. It's as you've said in your videos, 'Today's expectations are higher.' Which as we know, is a result of technological innovation. I agree, the context of then and now is vastly different; making it an "Apples to oranges' comparison regarding the skills of old time pilots as compared to the position today..
A river’s stage at a point (a gauge reading) is not an absolute measure of the depth of the water in the channel, so when a river gauge reads zero or in the negative numbers, it doesn’t mean that the river has gone totally dry. It means that the gauge is reading at or below the agreed-upon zero level. That gauge zero level is chosen considering many factors, like the USGS references (or benchmarks) that are near to the gauge site, or an historical level that may have been used for a hundred years or more. These gauge zero levels aren’t changed very often.
@@marktwained I got that from a Memphis news report and they got it from USGS. Good info and you were exactly right. Really enjoy your videos and the knowledge you share, been watching a few years now.
Another cool video! Can you recall what type of depth readings you see off the French quarter in new Orleans? I've read that it can be very deep there but curious what vessels see when transiting through there. Thanks for all the great vids!
I tell folks it's like asking how high is ground level on Earth. Depends on the exact location. When asked about gage readings being the depth of the river, I explain the gage is just a measuring tool and zero is not the bottom of the river. Seems to help!
River depths are variable! So, it would be interesting to know the depths at a sampling of places along the course of the Mississippi on a given date knowing that those numbers might change from day to day.
9' 5 barges across 'the current width' & moving. Somehow that data didn't get conveyed in "A River Boat Pilot". The fluctuation across & down the length gives the minimum of depth necessary to move full loads down or up the river. This is Piloting, knowing where & when you can 'go'. Coal, ore & grain & lpg? The river commerce has been vital the entire history of the republic. Wonder why its not a bigger portion of classroom history? Floods get noted, goods moving not so much.
There's a hole just south of Hickman Harbor that is probably 60 feet deep right now as low as the river is. I've seen it 100 feet deep when the river is higher .
Don’t You have a depth finder? I was invited up to the pilot house on a day trip aboard the steamboat Natchez out of New Orleans and I saw at one point that the Mississippi was 198 feet deep off Algiers. I too wanted to know how deep the river was and I saw it first hand by watching their depth finder.
The simple answer without figuring out your tonnage and displacement would be He only needs 9 ft because that is how much the barge or boat drafts or takes to float. It usually takes a couple more feet of depth than draft to just be able to move around.
And you could've added it's at least 9ft today, that could change tomorrow, next week or a month from now. Any river is alive and moving which means its always changing.
Now we can see ,you have to watch everything with depth your whole trip. Then in high conditions you have to look for debris all the time..,.that’s why not everyone can do your job! Good video capt. Stay safe….
Local radio in SW Wisconsin usually reports the stages for the Mississippi at lock 11 and 10 but I don't really listen to the local radio stations anymore but if I crossing the river to go to Dubuque and can see sand around the Island between the channel and back water I know it's low or like in the spring I might if looks high like when going out on the potosi point I will look it up.
I know the Miss. River has to be managed. Used to see the dredging in places where the river was a half mile wide, but the buoy navigation markers might get changed within two weeks; depending on river level and the time of year. The confluence at Fort Defiance below Cairo, Ill. is dredged pretty regularly to keep the main nav. channels open because of the changing flow from the faster MS. River vs the slower speed of the Ohio River. Sand bars can build up or recede pretty quickly depending on flow. I’ve seen whole large trees with massive roots hit an eddy and just disappear in a whirlpool. Don’t ever think anyone including the expert/experienced pilot’s-captains will underestimate the mighty Mississippi River from Cairo to south of New Orleans. I saw the Obion river in West TN rise and run backwards twenty five miles from a flood stage MS. River.
@@marktwained Yes you do, experience and accountabiliy; keep up the saga and entertaining/ educational videos of a thriving river history, Capt Kyle, it’s appreciated.
I find the depth extremely interesting, as I watch your video's when you swing camera from looking forward to looking at you plotter / display if the video even gets a glimpse of you two depth sounders I actual will stop the video and rewind and then try to pause it to see if I can read ii. The depth intrigues me that it changes so much. I am amazed over the last couple months I think I have seen the depths anywhere from the teens to I believe you were in a narrow swift spot a reading 70 plus. I was amazed as you went under one of the bridges I believe it was Memphis that the river close to 50 feet deep. I will seriously stop and rewind anytime I think I might be able to read them. Give us more sounders to me it is one of most interesting parts of the video (I hope sounders is the correct term) . Take care and good luck. Lynn
I'm always down in North Mississippi at star landing fishing wondering which barge your on. If you ever see a white guy with a 12 foot surf rod bank fishing 🎣 its one of your fans
I've seen one of the big old chart books or whatever the barge pilots used back in the day and "complicated" is putting it mildly. That book was maybe 4-5" thick and I have no clue if it was for the whole river or just a section of it. It's an old memory from around 20 years ago and the book was well out of date then.
From 30 years of boating the Missouri river I can tell you that when the guage at Jefferson city says 4' the channel will average 15' to 25' and the rest is all over the place, even the general consensus of just stay in the middle can bite you in the ass, it's not for the novice boater.
Thank you for that info. I drive over the Missouri River daily and always wondered what the actual channel depth is. I rarely if ever see a barge traffic.
@@matthewveth2030 Barge traffic is rare on the Missouri but they do navigate it all the same, the tows are smaller the most I have seen going up is 10 barges in a tow but see these 4 tow oil barges mostly.
@@marktwained Gauges by pushing a gas bubble out and the system determined what level was. We only had a half of foot to work with I think my old brain misfired and I meant tenths of a foot.
I got a question similar to depth I'm sure you have a depth finder to look at an all kinds of instruments an gauges but when your pushing barges an let's you have five barges two or three wide in front of you. How do you keep up with depth up on front on first barge that's what a football field in front of you
Simple what is the deepest spot anywhere in the river? like the Columbia River has a hole 300+ feet deep and I believe there is a spot near New Orleans in the Mississippi that is about 200 feet deep, there is your answer because when people ask I would wager that is what people are asking.
GPS ,calibration on ground elevation or sea level is not relevant just the water depth of the river channel. Unless you wanted too know exactly how much the ground has lift up from seismic activity on the Madrid Fault. 🤫😉😉
Cap't Kyle the easist answer to that question to meanyway is simple. When the last time it rained or time of year. Now my remark is not to be considered as a professional answer.
at the risk of asking a dumb question... explain why you only need 9feet of water to haul how many containers ? each weighing ? and 9 ft deep, how far across ? whats the volume of water required for a container? how many back yard pools 9ft deep would it take ? lmao 🤣
Even in the ocean depths go up and down, depending on the tide, which also changes throughout the month. I'm thinking a more useful metric for river running would be what is the volume of water per hour flowing down the river at a given point and at a given time?
They measure flows on locking rivers, as exact amount’s running over controlled dams is known. Lower Mississippi is would just be a wild guess, and not useful as gage readings, with daily comparisons to know approximately how swift it is going to be.
I got a new customer job to install secondary power to a beer barge. It was planned for boats leaving the marina up the Wolf River channel to stop by this barge and purchase their beer and ice for the day. In order to get secondary cable down to this barge a heavy duty lift pole was required. The question was "Where to set said pole on the waterfront?" This pole was necessary to span the secondary cables from a riser pole on the bank near Riverside Drive to this pole and the customer's secondary cable would tie into this cable at this proposed pole. The customer's cable had to be long enough to allow the beer barge to move in and out with the river rising and falling. The distance the barge would travel horizontally and vertically would vary with the rise and fall of the river. So, I called the Corps of Engineers and got the record low for the River at Memphis. With that information in hand, I sent a survey crew down to the waterfront to stake out the new pole halfway between high and low records. A class 1- 75' pole was set in 9 yards of concrete. It would have to be strong enough without stays or guy wires to handle all the weight of the able put upon it regardless of where the beer barge was due to the river stage. Well, the job was done late that spring after the spring rise had come and gone. That summer the Mississippi River set a new low and the beer barge wound up resting on the mud!
You got a great story out of it. 🤷🏼♂️
Thanks for sharing. 👍🏻
It’s so deep it goes all the way down to the ocean 🌊 . LoL 😂
One of the best books on the Mississippi River was written by Mark Twain.
Life on the Mississippi about when he was a river boat pilot.
That is where “marktwained” came from.
I read along his chapters describing his trip as a “cub pilot”, on same stretches, while I was steersman (cub pilot).
At that point I felt I had been marktwained. My own made up verb for the experience.
LOL! LOVE IT! And you're right, it's not an easy answer. Thank you for taking the time to answer it.
I’m live in Moore, Oklahoma. I’ve been following your journey. Holler if you need anything on the big river. 👍🏻
@@marktwained I'm done with the Mississippi. But it was a pleasure to share it with you and your fellow push boats. Thanks
Thank you, Capt Kyle. Very interesting. A timely subject for sure.👍👍😎🇺🇸
My picture of what happens in a river like the Mississippi is that the bottom of the river probably resembles sand dunes progressing with the river current, moving a tremendous amount of sand in bed-load every second. A dune top that may be safely below the draft of a tow will not be if the river level drops enough.
That dune-top has become a sand-bar.
Maintaining navigation on any of the rivers has to be a constant challenge, especially one as dynamic as the lower Mississippi.
Funny you get the same questions from people. When we here in europe have low water, the news always rever to kaub gauge. They freak out when it says 40cm (1 foot something), say that you can cross the river by foot😂. Unfortunately at 40cm our barges can still run 150cm deep (5ft), and the river will be even way deeper in some spots. But every year its the same story.
Hey cap thanks for the videos . Me and my son look forward to them
Like the question asked at Starved Rock Lock & Dam, before I retired, when we were in flood. What is the river going to do? My answer was it's going to go as high as it's going to go and then go down, and then try to explain what we were seeing on the gauges. Our gauges were so sensitive that during slack water times you could see the tiny rise when Marseilles Lock dropped their pit. Now with remote gauges and satellite receivers, you can get a better feel for what is going on.
Thanks Capt Kyle, really enjoy your videos
How Deep is the Mississippi? ALLLL the way to the bottom my man ... all the way.
Good video Kyle. It's interesting and something I've wondered myself. Thanks for the explanation.
At the crescent city wharf in the 1970s it was over 300 feet deep Dauphine st.wharf
I can't imagine how much more difficult a skippers job was before various forms of sophisticated electronics devices refined it, to what it is today. Today, it's still fascinating to consider the many number of things that a skilled, experienced Captain must know to do his job effectively & comfortably.
Those old time pilots feeling around on bottom and moving slow with relatively light tonnage (compared to nowadays), would be shocked and amazed at what we do now. I don’t disrespect those old day pilots, but context of accomplishments needs mentioning. 👍🏻
Thank you, for replying Kyle. It's as you've said in your videos, 'Today's expectations are higher.' Which as we know, is a result of technological innovation. I agree, the context of then and now is vastly different; making it an "Apples to oranges' comparison regarding the skills of old time pilots as compared to the position today..
A river’s stage at a point (a gauge reading) is not an absolute measure of the depth of the water in the channel, so when a river gauge reads zero or in the negative numbers, it doesn’t mean that the river has gone totally dry. It means that the gauge is reading at or below the agreed-upon zero level.
That gauge zero level is chosen considering many factors, like the USGS references (or benchmarks) that are near to the gauge site, or an historical level that may have been used for a hundred years or more. These gauge zero levels aren’t changed very often.
Kinda what I said. 👍🏻
@@marktwained I got that from a Memphis news report and they got it from USGS. Good info and you were exactly right. Really enjoy your videos and the knowledge you share, been watching a few years now.
👍🏻👍🏻
@@marktwained Hmmm, not really. I had to go through the comments to get this plain, succinct definition, after being confused by your words.
The answer to that question is , when I drag bottom, not deep enough.
Another cool video! Can you recall what type of depth readings you see off the French quarter in new Orleans? I've read that it can be very deep there but curious what vessels see when transiting through there. Thanks for all the great vids!
I’ve seen 200’
@@marktwained wow!!!
It’s over 200 feet deep there and it is the deepest spot on the Mississippi. See my comments above.
I tell folks it's like asking how high is ground level on Earth. Depends on the exact location. When asked about gage readings being the depth of the river, I explain the gage is just a measuring tool and zero is not the bottom of the river. Seems to help!
Like to see a tow building and why you build it the way you do thanks
Good answer.
thanks for posting capt
River depths are variable! So, it would be interesting to know the depths at a sampling of places along the course of the Mississippi on a given date knowing that those numbers might change from day to day.
There are gage readings spaced all river length.
Thanks Captain Kyle.
We found that the deepest part is as you come into New Orleans headed south, downstream by the Audobon Zoo. Over 300 feet.
Good answer Captain ! You keep running until you can't.
9' 5 barges across 'the current width' & moving. Somehow that data didn't get conveyed in "A River Boat Pilot". The fluctuation across & down the length gives the minimum of depth necessary to move full loads down or up the river. This is Piloting, knowing where & when you can 'go'. Coal, ore & grain & lpg? The river commerce has been vital the entire history of the republic. Wonder why its not a bigger portion of classroom history? Floods get noted, goods moving not so much.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 yes 👍🏻
They weren’t just asking, what’s the deepest spot typically ? Kinda would narrow the ? Down a bit
There's a hole just south of Hickman Harbor that is probably 60 feet deep right now as low as the river is. I've seen it 100 feet deep when the river is higher .
Lock and dam 11 deepest I found 63ft at normal same spot last week 51
@@richardreger6026 Probably loaded with catfish .
The Mississippi River is deepest around Algiers Point on the west bank of New Orleans at 200 feet.
Don’t You have a depth finder? I was invited up to the pilot house on a day trip aboard the steamboat Natchez out of New Orleans and I saw at one point that the Mississippi was 198 feet deep off Algiers. I too wanted to know how deep the river was and I saw it first hand by watching their depth finder.
* Then one would have to add the depth of the water between the depth finder and the surface of the water.
The simple answer without figuring out your tonnage and displacement would be
He only needs 9 ft because that is how much the barge or boat drafts or takes to float. It usually takes a couple more feet of depth than draft to just be able to move around.
People probably think it’s the lakes, large fiat bottoms. It can change in 10’…
And you could've added it's at least 9ft today, that could change tomorrow, next week or a month from now.
Any river is alive and moving which means its always changing.
It’s 9’ at least every day. US Army CoE guaranteed. 👍🏻
Supposed to be going up next week at Memphis and it depends on where you are.
Than u
Now we can see ,you have to watch everything with depth your whole trip. Then in high conditions you have to look for debris all the time..,.that’s why not everyone can do your job! Good video capt. Stay safe….
We run through and over the debris, mostly. 👍🏻👍🏻
Are you able to carry a "full load" with the river being down?
Local radio in SW Wisconsin usually reports the stages for the Mississippi at lock 11 and 10 but I don't really listen to the local radio stations anymore but if I crossing the river to go to Dubuque and can see sand around the Island between the channel and back water I know it's low or like in the spring I might if looks high like when going out on the potosi point I will look it up.
Side issue any body taken sauger?
The river is shallow enough to walk across at the headwaters.
I know the Miss. River has to be managed. Used to see the dredging in places where the river was a half mile wide, but the buoy navigation markers might get changed within two weeks; depending on river level and the time of year. The confluence at Fort Defiance below Cairo, Ill. is dredged pretty regularly to keep the main nav. channels open because of the changing flow from the faster MS. River vs the slower speed of the Ohio River. Sand bars can build up or recede pretty quickly depending on flow. I’ve seen whole large trees with massive roots hit an eddy and just disappear in a whirlpool. Don’t ever think anyone including the expert/experienced pilot’s-captains will underestimate the mighty Mississippi River from Cairo to south of New Orleans. I saw the Obion river in West TN rise and run backwards twenty five miles from a flood stage MS. River.
We get paid to know it very well. I know how much water there is all up and down the Mississippi. 👍🏻👍🏻
@@marktwained Yes you do, experience and accountabiliy; keep up the saga and entertaining/ educational videos of a thriving river history, Capt Kyle, it’s appreciated.
fishermaps shows a topographic map of depths.
Your answer is complicated but makes sense.
I find the depth extremely interesting, as I watch your video's when you swing camera from looking forward to looking at you plotter / display if the video even gets a glimpse of you two depth sounders I actual will stop the video and rewind and then try to pause it to see if I can read ii. The depth intrigues me that it changes so much. I am amazed over the last couple months I think I have seen the depths anywhere from the teens to I believe you were in a narrow swift spot a reading 70 plus. I was amazed as you went under one of the bridges I believe it was Memphis that the river close to 50 feet deep. I will seriously stop and rewind anytime I think I might be able to read them. Give us more sounders to me it is one of most interesting parts of the video (I hope sounders is the correct term) . Take care and good luck. Lynn
You are correct.. sounders. I’ll try and get more sounder readings in videos. 👍🏻🤷🏼♂️
I'm always down in North Mississippi at star landing fishing wondering which barge your on. If you ever see a white guy with a 12 foot surf rod bank fishing 🎣 its one of your fans
I’ll watch for you. 👍🏻👍🏻
What is the Deepest reading you have personally seen with your depth finders above New Orleans
The deepest part of the river that i personally know is down in Louisiana it got down to about 242ft
I've seen one of the big old chart books or whatever the barge pilots used back in the day and "complicated" is putting it mildly. That book was maybe 4-5" thick and I have no clue if it was for the whole river or just a section of it. It's an old memory from around 20 years ago and the book was well out of date then.
the upper Mississippi has a series of lock and dams, does anybody know how far downriver those lock and dam systems go?
St. Louis.. Lock 27
In complicated times like these have any barge companies thought about running a small craft with a depth finder out ahead of a tow?
No. That would be useless and a waste.
How about that SV Seeker!!
Watched their latest vids. I get a kick out of those fellas. Love their passion.
From 30 years of boating the Missouri river I can tell you that when the guage at Jefferson city says 4' the channel will average 15' to 25' and the rest is all over the place, even the general consensus of just stay in the middle can bite you in the ass, it's not for the novice boater.
Thank you for that info. I drive over the Missouri River daily and always wondered what the actual channel depth is. I rarely if ever see a barge traffic.
@@matthewveth2030 Barge traffic is rare on the Missouri but they do navigate it all the same, the tows are smaller the most I have seen going up is 10 barges in a tow but see these 4 tow oil barges mostly.
When we were in flood you knew the crest had come when the gauge read the same for several hours. Gauges read to the hundredth foot.
It moves inches, to feet a day. Hundredth of a foot reading would be overkill and not as useful as readings in feet.
For me.
@@marktwained Gauges by pushing a gas bubble out and the system determined what level was. We only had a half of foot to work with I think my old brain misfired and I meant tenths of a foot.
Just read Mark Twain’s ‘Life on the Mississippi’ and keep yourself posted.😂
I got a question similar to depth I'm sure you have a depth finder to look at an all kinds of instruments an gauges but when your pushing barges an let's you have five barges two or three wide in front of you. How do you keep up with depth up on front on first barge that's what a football field in front of you
We have sounder poles that we run cord back to wheelhouse. We carry about 3/4 mile worth of sounder cord on the boat
@@marktwained I was wondering about that thank you for answering.
I heard on the radio the river will rise 9 feet next week.Hope that’s true.
Yup, that’s true.
It's alive! It's ALIVE I tell you!
Tadpole say to it's mama how deep is the water mama and mama said knee deep knee deep lol
What’s the deepest you’ve seen on your sonar?
I’ve seen over 200’ New Orleans. There are multiple places over 100’.
*a few places
Can you on occasion tell your fans how deep the river is where you are at some point in the video?
between 0 an 200ft, top to bottom
Simple what is the deepest spot anywhere in the river? like the Columbia River has a hole 300+ feet deep and I believe there is a spot near New Orleans in the Mississippi that is about 200 feet deep, there is your answer because when people ask I would wager that is what people are asking.
Not when you ask a boat pilot. 🤷🏼♂️
Would a better question be how deep is the deepest channel in the river bed?
I HEARD THAT ALGIERS POINT IS PRETTY DEEP IN THE BEND, LIKE 150' IS THAT TRUE?
Yes, I’ve seen 200’ on that point.
@@marktwained INCREDIBLE!!!
Where about is that ?
@@randykaempfe7959 Just south of the greater Nawlins bridge. The first bend south of the bridge and it’s a hard 90 degree turn
"How long is a piece of string"
GPS ,calibration on ground elevation or sea level is not relevant just the water depth of the river channel.
Unless you wanted too know exactly how much the ground has lift up from seismic activity on the Madrid Fault. 🤫😉😉
Cap't Kyle the easist answer to that question to meanyway is simple.
When the last time it rained or time of year. Now my remark is not to be considered as a professional answer.
at the risk of asking a dumb question... explain why you only need 9feet of water to haul how many containers ? each weighing ? and 9 ft deep, how far across ? whats the volume of water required for a container? how many back yard pools 9ft deep would it take ? lmao 🤣
9’ draft is how deep barges or boat is at this stage.
Can’t really equate swimming pools to the Mississippi River. These are huge volumes.
we found a 70ft deep hole downstream from golden eagle fairy by those islands
So why can't you tell people about maintained navigation depth.
Just did. 🤷🏼♂️
@marktwained I love your channel, sorry if it sounded different.
Not deep enough!
I thought the most common question was regarding money 😂
Almost never get that question. Everyone knows we do this for free, I thought. 🤷🏼♂️🤔
The love of the river is my paycheck… what I was told by the wife, anyway. 🤔🤷🏼♂️
@@marktwained Yea you right 🤣
No man has ever stood in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.
No truer words. 👍🏻👍🏻
Best answer.... depends on where you're at in the river.
There is no answer 2 water levels. Thanks Florida Joe
Mark Twain.
talked for 3 min. and never said anything
I’ll do another one but talk slower and show pictures. Maybe you will understand if simpler.
You said a whole lot of nothing, how can it be negative and have water , that's what people want to know.
I described it. It is a “gage” reading. The stick in the mud analogy went over your head. It seems to me. 🤷🏼♂️
Even in the ocean depths go up and down, depending on the tide, which also changes throughout the month.
I'm thinking a more useful metric for river running would be what is the volume of water per hour flowing down the river at a given point and at a given time?
On the Corp of engineers websites they give both the Guage readings and the cfs reading.
They measure flows on locking rivers, as exact amount’s running over controlled dams is known. Lower Mississippi is would just be a wild guess, and not useful as gage readings, with daily comparisons to know approximately how swift it is going to be.