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20-647: Sardis Dam was the first of the Yazoo River headwaters projects to be built by the federal government for flood control. Authorization for the project came when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Flood Control Act of 1936 . Construction took four years and required thousands of men to clear fourteen miles (23 km) along the Tallahatchie River, which was characterized by dense woods and undergrowth, and meandering sloughs. The dam

40-409: A "conservation pool" of 9,800 acres (40 km). This permits spring rains across the lake's 1,545 square miles (4,000 km) watershed to fill the reservoir without flooding downstream. Since the dam became operational, the dam's emergency spillway has been overtopped only three times by high water - in 1973, 1983 and 1991. The lake's typical "recreation pool" is 32,500 acres (132 km). The lake

60-435: A yazoo stream. Because yazoo streams are separated from the main river by natural levees, they flow and meander (streams and rivers rarely flow in straight lines) parallel to the main stream channel or river on the floodplain for a considerable distance. These series of smooth bends or curves flows with a slight gradient, and is normally blocked from entering by a natural levee along the larger stream. A yazoo stream will join

80-611: Is considered by some to mark the southern boundary of what is called the Mississippi Delta , a broad floodplain that was cultivated for cotton plantations before the American Civil War . It has continued to be devoted to large-scale agriculture. The Yazoo River was named by French explorer La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's mouth at its confluence with

100-492: Is especially the characteristic when such a stream is forced to flow along the base of the main river's natural levee . Where the two meet is known as a "belated confluence " or a "deferred junction". The name is derived from an exterminated Native American tribe, the Yazoo Indians . The Choctaw word is translated to "River of Death" because of the strong flows under its bank full stage. Yazoo River runs parallel to

120-746: Is now on permanent display to the public at the Vicksburg National Military Park . There are 29 sunken ships from the Civil War beneath the waters of the river. The steamer Dew Drop was reportedly sunk near Roebuck Lake as an obstruction to the United States Navy, but Union sources claim the vessel was captured and burned. Variant names of the Yazoo River include Zasu River, Yazous River, Yahshoo River, Rivière des Yasoux , and Fiume del Yasous . In 1876,

140-436: Is popular with anglers and has a reputation for its abundant bass and crappie . Other recreation activities include hunting, camping, boating, skiing, swimming and picnicking. The Sardis Lake Marina services the lake with access to fuel docks, 140 wet slips (both covered and uncovered), a restaurant, and a ship store. The Marina offers rental boats as well as rental skis, tubes, and knee/wake boards. The main fish that live in

160-606: The Mendenhall River in Alaska. Yazoo streams here drain the back swamps of the Wakarusa River Valley. Over time, the main river flows through the landscape, widening a valley and creating a floodplain . Sediment accumulates and creates a natural levee . Tributaries that want to enter the main channel are not allowed because of this levee. Instead, the water then enters the back swamps, or form

180-561: The Mississippi River for 280 km (170 mi) before converging, being constrained from doing so upstream by the river's natural and man-made levees . Moesian stream/flow is a parallel derivative remnant of paleoriver . Many Yazoo streams are actually paleo-remnants of just one original river. The good examples of moesian flow are Mossy Creek , Missouri and Jezava , Morava. Important salmonoid fish habitat and large spruce forests inhabit these streams which flow into

200-528: The Mendenhall River. Floods are a major driving force for yazoo streams. In the Yazoo Basin, settlers were faced with high waters for most of the year, making it hard for building homes and maintaining agriculture. A few man-made levees were built to improve conditions. In 1927, large floods ravaged the area, allowing Congress to take action into building dams and more levees to reduce

220-563: The Mississippi River changed its course, shifting west several miles and leaving Vicksburg without a river front. In 1902, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers diverted the Yazoo River into the old river bed, forming the Yazoo Diversion Canal. The modern-day port of Vicksburg is still located on this canal. Commercial navigation of the Yazoo River has declined considerably since the 1990s and is mainly concentrated on

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240-596: The Mississippi prevent the Yazoo from joining it before Vicksburg. A " yazoo stream " is a hydrologic term that was coined to describe any river or major stream with similar characteristics. Potamologists believe the Yazoo River had its origins as the lower Ohio River. The French (and later the Anglo-American settlers) historically called the surrounding area of Mississippi and Alabama the Yazoo lands , after

260-574: The Mississippi. The exact meaning of the term is unclear. One long held belief is that it means "river of death". The river is 188 miles (303 km) long and is formed by the confluence of the Tallahatchie and the Yalobusha rivers, where present-day Greenwood developed. The river parallels the Mississippi River in the latter's floodplain for some distance before joining it north of Vicksburg, Mississippi . Natural levees which flank

280-406: The lake are Largemouth bass , Spotted bass , Blue catfish , Channel catfish , Flathead catfish , Black crappie , White crappie , Bluegill , Redear sunfish , White bass . Yazoo River 32°20′8″N 90°53′50″W  /  32.33556°N 90.89722°W  / 32.33556; -90.89722 The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. states of Louisiana and Mississippi . It

300-571: The major river where it will eventually break through the natural levees and flow into the larger waterway at its belated confluence. Yazoo stream formation can also be influenced by glacial processes. An example is the formation of the Montana Creek valley during the recent Little Ice Age . The Mendenhall Glacier carved out a wide floodplain that is domed in the center. High valley walls due to tectonic uplift and glacial outwash (the natural levee) create two yazoo streams that parallel

320-442: The risk of floods. Human alteration within wetlands and streams have resulted in a decrease in ecological functions and associated benefits to society. Miles of streams are in poor condition with high nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations. Yazoo streams have been altered through intense agricultural activities and flood control measures. Low water, excessive sedimentation, and the accumulation of pesticides such as DDT are

340-595: The river. This became the basis for naming the Yazoo Land Scandal of the late 18th and early 19th century. The river was of major importance during the American Civil War . The Confederates used the first electrically detonated underwater mine in the river in 1862 near Vicksburg to sink the Union ironclad USS Cairo . The last section of the Cairo was raised on December 12, 1964. It has been restored and

360-400: The section from Vicksburg to Yazoo City . At Long Lake, Mississippi , the river measures 18,486 cubic feet per second. Yazoo stream A Yazoo stream (also called a Yazoo tributary ) is a geologic and hydrologic term for any tributary stream that runs parallel to, and within the floodplain of a larger river for considerable distance, before eventually joining it. This

380-430: Was constructed using a "hydraulic fill" technique that required soil to be dredged from below the dam site and pumped to form the earth fill, which forms the majority of the dam. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built and operated the "Pontotoc", a special dredge powered by two 3,000 hp (2,200 kW) electric motors to accomplish this task. The 425-acre (1.72 km) "Lower Lake" on the downstream side of Sardis Dam

400-409: Was created by the dredging operation. It has numerous recreation facilities, including John W. Kyle State Park . Mississippi Highway 315 splits while crossing the dam, with one route crossing the top and the other half crossing the base. Sardis Lake has a maximum storage capacity of 1,512,000 acre-feet (1.865 × 10 m) of water. The lake is gradually drawn down during the fall and winter months to

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