Tree snags, uncharted shoals, and other obstructions made navigation treacherous. The average lifespan of a steamboat on the Mississippi River in the 1880s was only 18 months.

By the mid-to-late nineteenth century, the great need for navigation improvements and flood control on the Mississippi River was obvious. Following several decades of constitutional squabbles, engineering disputes, and regional bickering dating back to the early 1800s, Congress fully recognized the need to harmonize river improvements on the Mississippi River through a central organization. On June 28, 1879 , the federal legislature, led by Senator L.Q.C. Lamar of Mississippi and Representative Randall L. Gibson of Louisiana and assisted by the efforts of a congressional coalition of navigation and flood-control interests, established the Mississippi River Commission (MRC) as an executive body reporting directly to the Secretary of War.

The originating legislation granted the MRC extensive jurisdiction on the Mississippi River from its headwaters at Lake Itasca , Minnesota , to the Head of Passes near the Gulf of Mexico. The act also empowered the MRC to make surveys and investigations necessary to prepare plans to improve the river channel, protect the banks, improve navigation, prevent destructive floods, and promote commerce. The legally mandated membership of the MRC called for three officers from the U.S. Corps of Engineers, one member from the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), andthree civilians—all nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

This splendid mix of membership reflected a desire to heal a burgeoning schism between the military and civilian engineering communities epitomized by the famous clashes between Brigadier General Andrew A. Humphreys, the Chief of Engineers, and James B. Eads, the internationally renowned civilian engineer and original member of the MRC.

Early Contraction works at Plum Point, 1885

Joining Eads as members on the original MRC were Brevet Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore (president), Bvt. Brig. General Cyrus B. Comstock, and Bvt. Brig. Gen. Charles R. Suter, all from the Corps of Engineers; Henry B. Mitchell of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey; and civilians Benjamin Morgan Harrod and Benjamin Harrison, who 10 years later would become President of the United States.

The act creating the MRC also authorized the Secretary of War to detail officers, men, vessels, and instruments from both the Corps of Engineers and the Coast and Geodetic Survey to the MRC to enable the Commission to carry out its mission. The first meeting of the MRC was held in Washington , D.C. , on August 19, 1879 , and headquarters were established in St. Louis , Missouri . Three years later, the MRC divided the lower Mississippi into four districts for administrative purposes: the First MRC District at Cairo , Illinois , the Second MRC District at Memphis , Tennessee , the Third MRC District at Vicksburg , Mississippi , and the Fourth MRC District in New Orleans , Louisiana. Officers from the Corps of Engineers were detailed as District Engineers in charge of the MRC district offices under the direction of the Commission. The Commission added the MRC Dredging District in 1898 to administer its growing fleet of dredges, followed by the Northern MRC District in 1918 to oversee levee work from Cairo to Rock Island , Illinois , initiated by the 1916 Rivers and Harbors Act.

The establishment of the MRC in 1879 represented the next logical step in the process of improving the Mississippi River, and the next five decades marked an era of experimentation. In 1880, the MRC, relying heavily on input from local partners, developed a general plan of improvement based on contracting the low-water channel with permeable dikes and protecting the riverbanks from erosion with various forms of revetment. In implementing this plan, the MRC learned many valuable lessons that advanced the evolution of river improvements. At the same time, however, lingering fiscal and legal issues retarded that same maturation process. The 1886 Rivers and Harbors Act, for example, forced the MRC to abandon revetment as a bank stabilization method just when technical advancements were finally providing effective bank protection.

Continuing constitutional concerns with regard to the federalization of flood control also stagnated the development of a meaningful flood-control program by leading to legislation that restricted the implementation of MRC plans. From 1881 through 1892, federal law prohibited the MRC from expending funds to build or repair levees for the sole purpose of protecting private property from overflow. Instead levees were to be constructed as aids to navigation. When the restrictions were finally lifted, the MRC settled into the position that an adequate levee system, void of costly adjuncts, could protect the Mississippi Valley from inundation.

Arkansas City, AR, during the 1927 flood

The first federal flood control act , passed in 1917, facilitated the final implementation of a “levees-only” program. Ten years later, the great Mississippi River flood of 1927 forced a wholesale reappraisal of the federal government's levee policy and galvanized legislative, engineering, and popular support for a comprehensive river improvement plan buttressed by large appropriations. The support for such a plan was manifested through the Flood Control Act of 1928.

Today the MRC oversees the implementation of the comprehensive Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) project under the supervision of the Chief of Engineers. The MR&T project is arguably the most successful civil works project ever initiated by Congress. From 1928 through 2004, the nation contributed nearly $12 billion toward the MR&T project and received an estimated $425.5 billion return on that investment, including savings on transportation costs and flood damages. No project levee has ever failed despite several major floods since the inception of the project. Subsequently, the frequency of flooding in protected areas has declined, resulting in a sharp drop in flood damages.

Despite its changing mission over the years, the MRC today still retains the original mixture of Army engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration representatives, and civilian members prescribed by the founding Act of 1879. The general duties of the MRC include the recommendation of policy and work programs, the study of and reporting upon the necessity for modifications or additions to the flood control and navigation project, recommendation upon any matters authorized by law, inspection trips, and holding public hearings. The work of the MRC is directed by its president and carried out by the six Army Engineer Districts at St. Paul , Rock Island , St. Louis , Memphis , Vicksburg , and New Orleans , the latter five of which absorbed the former MRC districts in 1928.

Current activities of the MRC are performed in three broad categories: general investigations to determine needed improvements, construction of new facilities, and maintenance and operation of existing systems. Included in its responsibilities are the main river from Cairo to Head of Passes, and the basins of the St. Francis, Tensas , Yazoo , Atchafalaya , Lower Red, Lower Arkansas , Lower White, and west Tennessee rivers. Authorizations for the projects have been established by the various Congresses upon the recommendations of the MRC and the Chief of Engineers as changes to the basic policies of the Flood Control Act of 1928.