Flood control along the Mississippi River is a central piece of a newly passed federal law — work that advocates believe is critical.

A Minnesota Boat Club eight-man scull plies the waters of the Mississippi ... in the river’s shipping channel is about 2 miles — in Lake Pepin, on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

SHELBY, Wis. — If she closes her eyes, Danelle Larson still can remember how the stretch of Mississippi River in front of her looked as recent as a decade ago: nothing but open, muddy water.