Being located right next to the Mississippi River, the Quincy area has experienced many floods over the past century or so. Normally, the Mississippi River at Quincy is maintained at 480 feet above sea level, or as we like to call it here, "A 12 FOOT UPPER POOL LEVEL". This 12 foot upper pool level is regulated by the gates in Lock and Dam 21, located just two miles south of Quincy.

NOTE:   The UPPER POOL is the water on the upstream side (above) of the dam. The LOWER POOL is the water on the downstream side (below) of the dam. See the picture of Lock and Dam 21 at the right.

The amount of water flowing in the Mississippi River past Quincy is determined by the rainfall, snow melt and saturation of the ground north of us. Normally during the spring months we have more water flowing past us and at these times, the gates in the dam are adjusted to allow more flow, thus maintaining the upper pool level at 12 feet.

During the time when Mother Nature drops an enormous amount of rain north of us, or when She decides to "Raise the Thermostat" and melt all the snow at once, we get a water flow past Quincy that cannot be regulated by the dam. At that point, all the gates are completely opened and the dam no longer can regulate the water level in the upper pool. At this point, the upper pool level starts rising above the 12 foot level. As it increases, it may get to where it starts to go over most of the river banks and the islands. The point where this happens is called "FLOOD STAGE". Flood Stage at Quincy is 17 feet, or five feet above the normal river level.

During the winter of 2000/2001, there was an enormous amount of snowfall on the ground in the states of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. When that snowfall started to melt in the spring of 2001, the water flow in the Mississippi River increased and the gates on most of the dams were opened to regulate their upper pools to a proper level. Then came the rains requiring the gates to be opened even more. Before too long, the gates were completely opened and the normal river levels started to rise.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were no locks and dams on the river. Many people look at that fact and make the statement that the locks and dams have caused the higher flood stages we've had during the past 50 years or so. This is far from the truth! One thing that these people don't seem to realize is that the river wasn't hemmed in by many levees in the early days. At that time, during high water flow, the river could spread out over the complete river bottom land thus preventing the very high flood stages that we've seen during the past 50 years.

• A view of Quincy Bay and the river on April 17, 2001.
• A view of the same location on April 22, 2001.
• The "Flood Poles" at Quincy - These poles were installed on the river bank in the Quincy Bay to show what the river level got to during several of the major floods we've had in the past. Note the river level of 21.3 feet on April 23, 2001.

• Sandbagging around a building in upper Quincy Bay - April 22.
• Note the space between the sandbags and building - Water that seeps in here will be pumped out.
• The same building after the water level came up - May 13. - Note the walkway from the road to the building.
• More sandbags being filled to put at the front entrance to the building.

  NOTE:   On May 15, 2001, the river stage was 27.2 feet and predicted to crest (highest level) at around 28 feet. This was very close to the same as it was in 1973 but still four feet lower than the Flood of 1993.

The Mississippi River level early this morning was at 27.28 feet and it seemed to be leveling off at that figure. River levels to the north of us were starting to go back down. So..., It looks as though this is it - The third highest flood on record for the Quincy area! From what I've heard, there is going to be a slow drop over the next several days. Here are a few pictures I took this morning.

• The gazebo at Clat Adams Riverfront Park.
• Another view of Clat Adams Riverfront Park with Bayview Bridge in the background.
• The "Flood Poles" with the water level at 27.28 feet. - Only the 1973 and 1993 poles are showing.
• My grandson just loves this playground. - Although, he didn't get to try out the "Water Slide"...

The flood of 2001 is being ranked as the third highest in Quincy's history, according to the National Weather Service.

Quincy's all-time-high crest of 32.2 feet was recorded July 13, 1993 - the same day levees failed in the Indian Grave (Illinois) and South River (Missouri) drainage districts. Three days later the Fabius River Drainage District's levee at West Quincy, Mo., was breached.

The second-highest crest at Quincy - 28.9 feet - came April 25, 1973, in what had been the record flood for this area until 1993.

The "Top 10 List" of Mississippi River floods for Quincy, Illinois are as follows: 32.2 feet on July 13, 1993 28.9 feet on April 25, 1973 27.3 feet on May 16, 2001 25.3 feet on Oct. 4, 1986 24.8 feet on April 28, 1965 24.4 feet on May 29, 1996 24.4 feet on April 4, 1960 24.2 feet on April 29, 1995 23.9 feet on June 10, 1947 23.8 feet on April 5, 1983

The flood of 2001 was blamed largely on a heavy snow melt in the upper Midwest combined with a series of heavy rains in the Mississippi River valley.

Glenn W. Glessner - Quincy, Illinois

Web Page Created on May 15, 2001 - Updated on November 23, 2004