The Flood Control Act of 1937 (FCA 1937) was an Act of the United States Congress

Act of Congress

An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by government with a legislature named "Congress," such as the United States Congress or the Congress of the Philippines....

 signed into law by President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 on August 28, 1937 as Public Law 406, in response to major flooding throughout the United States in the 1930s, culminating with the "Super Flood" of January 1937, the greatest flood recorded on the lower Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

. FCA 1937 provided nearly $25 million for initial construction of projects selected by the Chief of Engineers

Chief of Engineers

The Chief of Engineers commands the US Army Corps of Engineers. As a staff officer at The Pentagon, the Chief advises the Army on engineering matters and serves as the Army's topographer and the proponent for real estate and other related engineering programs....

 from those listed in the Ohio Valley Flood Control Program (published as Flood Document No. 1, 75th congress, 1st Session). Among the numerous project authorized, the act provided for construction of floodwalls, levee

Levee

A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...

s, and revetment

Revetment

Revetments, or revêtements , have a variety of meanings in architecture, engineering and art history. In stream restoration, river engineering or coastal management, they are sloping structures placed on banks or cliffs in such a way as to absorb the energy of incoming water...

s along Wolf River and Nonconnah Creek for protection of Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, TN and modified the Yazoo River

Yazoo River

The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Mississippi.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. The exact meaning of the term is unclear...

 project to substitute a combined reservoir floodway and levee plan.

Section 2 authorized small clearing and snagging projects for flood control

Flood control

In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...

, limited in Federal cost per project (50 Stat. 877, 33 U.S.C. 7Olg).

FCA 1937 was subsequently amended on Many of the provisions of FCA 1937 are administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

.

• 24 July 1946 by Section 13,
• 24 September 1954 by Section 208, (these projects are customarily referred to as "Section 208 Projects")
• 7 March 1974 by Section 26,
• 17 November 1986 by Section 915(b), Water Resources Development Act of 1986
  Water Resources Development Act of 1986
  The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 is part of , a series of acts enacted by Congress of the United States on November 17, 1986....
  
  , . The latter amended the Federal limit per project to $500,000.

See also

• Water Resources Development Act
  Water Resources Development Act
  Water Resources Development Act , is a reference to public laws enacted by Congress to deal with various aspects of water resources: environmental, structural, navigational, flood protection, hydrology, etc....
  
  
• Rivers and Harbors Act
  Rivers and Harbors Act
  Rivers and Harbors Act may refer to one of many pieces of legislation and appropriations passed by the United States Congress since the first such legislation in 1824. At that time congress appropriated $75,000 to improve navigation on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers by removing sandbars, snags,...
  
  - for related legislation which sometimes also implements flood control provisions.