Drought-related West Tennessee channel bank failures

Massive bank failures occurred in 1988 along a 14-kilometer reach of the lower Obion River channel in Dyer County, West Tennessee where the river flows through an abandoned Mississippi River meander. Bank failures in this reach extend as far as 50 meters from the channel and reach depths of 20 meters below ground surface. The critical elements that led to the failures appear to have been the combination of high soil moisture content and low river stage against a background of substantial recent bank accretion.