Four Rivers EarthCache

The river is formed by the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at Point State Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From Pittsburgh, it flows northwest through Allegheny and Beaver Counties, before making an abrupt turn to the south-southwest at the West Virginia—Ohio—Pennsylvania triple state line, from which point it forms the border between West Virginia and Ohio, upstream of Wheeling, West Virginia.

The river then follows a roughly southwest and then west-northwest course before bending to a west-southwest course for most of its length. It flows along the borders of West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, until it joins the Mississippi near the city of Cairo, Illinois.

The Ohio's drainage basin covers 189,422 square miles (490,603 km²), including the eastern-most regions of the Mississippi Basin. States drained by the Ohio include:
Illinois (the southeast quarter of the state),
Indiana (all but the northern area of the state),
Ohio (the southern half of the state),
New York (a small area of the southern border along the headwaters of the Allegheny River),
Pennsylvania (a corridor from the southwestern corner to north central border),
Maryland (a small corridor along the Youghiogheny River on the state's western border),
West Virginia (all but the eastern panhandle of the state),
Kentucky (all but a small part in the extreme west of the state drained directly by the Mississippi River),
Tennessee (all but a small part in the extreme west of the state drained directly by the Mississippi River and a small area in the southeastern corner of the state which is drained by the Conasauga River),
Virginia (most of Southwest Virginia),
North Carolina (the western quarter of the state),
Georgia (the northwest corner of the state),
Alabama (the northern portion of the state), and
Mississippi (the northeast corner of the state).

The river had great significance in the history of the Native Americans. It was a primary transportation route during the westward expansion of the early U.S. It flows through or along the border of six states, and its drainage basin encompasses 14 states, including many of the states of the southeastern U.S. through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River. During the nineteenth century, it was the southern boundary of the Northwest Territory, thus serving as the border between free and slave territory. It is sometimes referred to as the "Mason-Dixon line" as it is commonly acknowledged as the western natural extension of the original Mason-Dixon line that divided Pennsylvania and Delaware from Maryland and West Virginia (then a part of Virginia) thus being the unofficial, and at times disputed, border between the Northern United States and the American South or upland South.

The Ohio River is young from a geologic standpoint. The river formed on a piecemeal basis beginning between 2.5 and 3 million years ago. The earliest Ice Ages occurred at this time and dammed portions of north flowing rivers. The Teays River was the largest of these rivers, and the modern Ohio River flows within segments of the ancient Teays. The ancient rivers were rearranged or consumed by glaciers and lakes.

The upper Ohio River formed when one of the glacial lakes overflowed into a south flowing tributary of the Teays River. The overflowing lake carved through the separating hill and connected the rivers. The resulting floodwaters enlarged the small Marietta valley to a size more typical of a large river. The new large river subsequently drained glacial lakes and melting glaciers at the end of several Ice Ages. The valley grew with each major Ice Age.

The middle Ohio River formed in a manner similar to formation of the upper Ohio River. A north-flowing river was
temporarily dammed southwest of present-day Louisville, Kentucky, creating a large lake until the dam burst. A new route was carved to the Mississippi River, and eventually the upper and middle sections combined to form what is essentially the modern Ohio River.

Because the Ohio River flowed westwardly, it became the convenient means of westward movement by pioneers traveling from western Pennsylvania. After reaching the mouth of the Ohio, settlers would travel north on the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri. There, some continued on up the Missouri River, some up the Mississippi, and some further west over land routes. In the early 19th century, pirates, such as Samuel Mason, settled at Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, waylaid travelers on their way down the river, killed them, stole their goods, and scuttled their boats. The folktales of Mike Fink recall the keelboats used for commerce in the early days of European settlement. In 1843 the Ohio river boatmen were the inspiration for Dan Emmett's The Boatman's Dance.

Because it is the Southern border of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, the Ohio River was a part of the border that divided free states and slave states in the years before the American Civil War. The expression "sold down the river" originated as a lament of Kentucky slaves being split apart from their families and sold in Louisville and other Kentucky locations to be shipped via the Ohio River down to New Orleans to be sold yet again to owners of cotton and sugar field plantations.

The charter for Virginia went not to the middle of the Ohio River but to its far shore, so that the entire river was included in the lands owned by Virginia. Therefore, where the river serves as a boundary between states, the entire river belongs to the states on the east and then the south, i.e., West Virginia and Kentucky, that were divided from Virginia. It is for that reason that Wheeling Island, the largest inhabited island in the Ohio River, belongs to West Virginia, even though it is much closer to the Ohio shore than to the West Virginia shore. Kentucky brought suit against Indiana in the early 1980s because of the building of the Marble Hill nuclear power plant in Indiana, which would have discharged its waste water into the river. The U.S. Supreme Court held that Kentucky's jurisdiction (and, implicitly, that of West Virginia) extended only to the low water mark of 1793 (important because the river has been extensively dammed for navigation, so that the present river bank is north of the old low water mark.) Similarly in the 1990s, Kentucky disputed Illinois' right to collect taxes on a riverboat casino docked in Metropolis, citing their control of the entire river. Aztar opened their own casino riverboat that docked in Evansville, Indiana at about the same time. Although cruises on the Ohio river were at first done in an oval pattern up and down the Ohio, the state of Kentucky soon protested and cruises were limited to going forwards then reversing and going backwards on the Indiana shore only. The riverboat casino never leaves the shore now.

Water levels for the Ohio River are predicted daily by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The water depth predictions are relative to each local flood plain based upon predicted rainfall in the Ohio River basin in five reports as follows:
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Hannibal Dam, Ohio (including the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers),
Willow Island Dam, Ohio, to Greenup Dam, Kentucky (including the Kanawha River),
Portsmouth, Ohio, to Markland Locks and Dam, Kentucky,
McAlpine Locks and Dam, Kentucky, to Cannelton Locks and Dam, Indiana,
Newburgh Dam, Indiana, to Golconda, Illinois.

So what does all of this have to do with this gaging stations? As mentioned earlier, the Ohio River drains over 189,422 square miles (121,230,080 acres) and therefore is a major waterway for the Ohio River basin. Since it flows almost 1,000 miles, rain in one area can drastically affect this area. With more and more houses and roads being built, the rainwater does not have a chance to soak into the ground. This area has suffered many flooding events from snow melts upstream when Paducah had no snow all winter.
Below is a link to this gaging station:

Here are the historic crests for the area.
(1) 60.60 ft on 02/02/1937
(2) 55.03 ft on 05/05/2011
(3) 54.30 ft on 04/07/1913
(3) 54.30 ft on 02/23/1884
(5) 53.30 ft on 02/13/1950
(6) 52.00 ft on 03/21/1867
(7) 51.79 ft on 03/11/1997
(8) 51.40 ft on 04/03/1975
(9) 50.90 ft on 03/25/1897
(10) 50.70 ft on 02/25/1883

60.6 This flood will exceed the highest stage on record. Large amounts of property damage can be expected. Evacuation of many homes and businesses becomes necessary.
56.0 Many of the industrial plants upstream in Calvert City are affected at this stage and higher and may begin to shut down.
52.0 Major flooding occurs and is widespread on both sides of the river.
49.5 The first gate is closed in the floodwall in Paducah.
47.0 Property damage begins on the the Illinois and Kentucky sides of the river.
43.0 Moderate flooding occurs affecting several small unprotected towns.
39.0 Minor flooding occurs affecting mainly bottomland and surrounding low lying areas.

To log this earthcache, you must do the following (TWO SEPARATE PICTURES REQUIRED):

1. Take picture #1 of yourself (face and GPS in the picture) with the gage house visible in the background. This is to be a picture as close to the gage house as possible. Do not get on steps.

2. Post in your log what the heights of the River is and what the flow in thousand cubic feet per second is (found on the website).

3. Email me with the following information:
At what river height would water start running in your shoes at ground zero?

4. You are standing near the levee system that protects the town. The most current, high level recorded was in 2011. Estimate the river's depth by pointing to the staff gage if the river were at that record flood level and take a picture (#2) and post it in your log.