A commission is created to be called “The Mississippi River Commission”, to consist of seven members.

The President of the United States shall appoint seven commissioners, three of whom shall be selected from the Engineer Corps of the Army, one from the National Ocean Survey, and three from civil life, two of whom shall be civil engineers. And any vacancy which may occur in the commission shall in like manner be filled by the President of the United States; and he shall designate one of the commissioners appointed from the Engineer Corps of the Army to be president of the commission. The commissioners appointed under sections 641 to 644, 646, and 647 of this title, except those appointed from civil life, shall remain in office subject to removal by the President of the United States. Each commissioner appointed from civil life after November 7, 1966, shall be appointed for a term of nine years.

Any officer of the Corps of Engineers who has served or shall serve four years as President of the Mississippi River Commission and who has been or shall subsequently be retired, shall, from the date of such retirement, receive the rank, pay, and allowances of a retired major general.

The Secretary of the Army may detail from the Engineer Corps of the Army of the United States an officer to act as secretary of said commission.

The headquarters and general offices of said commission shall be located at some city or town on the Mississippi River, to be designated by the Secretary of the Army, and the meetings of the commission except such as are held on Government boats during the time of the semiannual inspection trips of the commission shall be held at said headquarters and general offices, the times of said meetings to be fixed by the president of the commission, who shall cause due notice of such meetings to be given members of the commission and the public.

[Detail of assistants; vessels; instruments.] It shall be the duty of the Mississippi River Commission to direct and complete such surveys of the Mississippi River, between the Head of the Passes near its mouth to its headwaters as may have been in progress June 28, 1879, and to make such additional surveys, examinations, and investigations, topographical, hydrographical, and hydrometrical, of said river and its tributaries, as may be deemed necessary by said commission to carry out the objects of sections 641 to 644, 646, and 647 of this title. And to enable said commission to complete such surveys, examinations, and investigations, the Secretary of the Army shall, when requested by said commission, detail from the Engineer Corps of the Army such officers and men as may be necessary, and shall place in the charge and for the use of said commission such vessel or vessels and such machinery and instruments as may be under his control and may be deemed necessary. And the Secretary of Commerce shall, when requested by said commission in like manner detail from the National Ocean Survey such officers and men as may be necessary, and shall place in the charge and for the use of said commission such vessel or vessels and such machinery and instruments as may be under his control and may be deemed necessary. And the said commission may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Army, employ such additional force and assistants, and provide, by purchase or otherwise, such vessels or boats and such instruments and means as may be deemed necessary.

[Plans; report.] It shall be the duty of said commission to take into consideration and mature such plan or plans and estimates as will correct, permanently locate, and deepen the channel and protect the banks of the Mississippi River; improve and give safety and ease to the navigation thereof; prevent destructive floods; promote and facilitate commerce, trade, and the postal service; and when so prepared and matured, to submit to the Secretary of the Army a full and detailed report of their proceedings and actions, and of such plans, with estimates of the cost thereof, for the purposes aforesaid, to be by him transmitted to Congress: Provided, That the commission shall report in full upon the practicability, feasibility, and probable cost of the various plans known as the jetty system, the levee system, and the outlet system, as well as upon such others as they deem necessary.

[Plans for immediate works.] The said commission may, prior to the completion of all the surveys and examinations contemplated by sections 641 to 644, 646, and 647 of this title, prepare and submit to the Secretary of the Army, plans, specifications, and estimates of costs for such immediate works as, in the judgment of said commission, may constitute a part of the general system of works herein contemplated, to be by him transmitted to Congress.

The jurisdiction of the Mississippi River Commission is extended so as to include that part of the Arkansas River between its mouth and the intersection thereof with the division line between Lincoln and Jefferson Counties, and any funds which are appropriated by Congress for improving the Mississippi River between Head of Passes and the mouth of the Ohio River, and which may be allotted to levees and bank revetment, may be expended within the limits of said extended jurisdiction under the direction of the Secretary of the Army, in accordance with the plans, specifications, and recommendations of the Mississippi River Commission, as approved by the Chief of Engineers, and upon like terms and conditions for levees and bank revetment upon any part of the Mississippi River now under the jurisdiction of said commission, and in such manner as will best promote and accomplish the purposes for which commission was created, in so far as the territory hereby added to its said jurisdiction may be involved.

The harbor at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and the Ohio River from its mouth to the mouth of the Cache River, are transferred to and placed under the control and jurisdiction of the Mississippi River Commission: Provided, That no part of the improvement of the Ohio River, with a view to the construction of locks and dams, shall be considered as transferred to or placed under the control and jurisdiction of the Mississippi River Commission.

Any funds which are appropriated by Congress for improving the Mississippi River between Head of Passes and the mouth of the Ohio River, and which may be allotted to levees, may be expended, under the direction of the Secretary of the Army, in accordance with the plans, specifications, and recommendations of the Mississippi River Commission, as approved by the Chief of Engineers, for levees upon any part of said river between Head of Passes and Rock Island, Illinois, in such manner as, in their opinion, shall best improve navigation and promote the interest of commerce at all stages of the river.

The jurisdiction of the Mississippi River Commission is extended, for the purposes of levee protection and bank protection, to the tributaries and outlets of the Mississippi River between Cairo, Illinois, and the Head of the Passes, in so far as these tributaries and outlets are affected by the flood waters of the Mississippi River.