There were several major floods between 1849 and 1936 that moved Congress to pass legislation . The first significant federal flood control law was the Swamp Land Act of 1850 . A flood on the Mississippi River in 1874 led to the creation of the Mississippi River Commission in 1879 . Booming steamboat traffic on the Missouri River and a flood in 1881 led to the creation of the Missouri River Commission in 1884 , but it was abolished by the River and Harbor Act of 1902 . Floods on the Mississippi , Ohio , and other rivers in the Northeast led to the Flood Control Act of 1917 , which was the first act aimed exclusively at controlling floods . The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 led to substantial flood control funding . And a series of floods in 1935 and 1936 across the nation were critical in the passage of the Flood Control Act of 1936
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Flood Control Act