Lakes in Mississippi    

Quick Summary:

• Mississippi’s namesake river is the second-largest drainage basin in the United States after the Hudson Bay system, spanning 2,320 miles from Minnesota’s Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico.
• Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a variety of dam projects were undertaken by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to control regional flooding from the river and create reservoirs for public drinking water and recreational use.