Well, we know Charles Dickens didn't like the Illinois prairie, but what did he think of the Mississippi River?

To discuss the drought facing rivers across Illinois, its causes and effects, and why it matters, we were joined by the senior vice president of Waterways Council and the senior manager of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s River Forecast Center.

The Mississippi River system is both an artery and a vein. It pumps ag products out of the heartland and into the world while bringing back fertilizer and steel to keep that economic engine purring.

A growing number of studies indicate that climate change is behind more frequent and intense flooding among Midwestern waterways. But some riverside residents believe there’s a bigger culprit behind the rising Mississippi: high levees.