re: Odds the Mississippi River jumps basins?

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Well 100% chance in geological time but never have we had the technology we have in place now to prevent such things in the past like we do now.

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This Mississippi is 14 feet higher than the Atchafalaya at Old River. It is at the extreme eastern edge of its historical meander. The eastern bank at old river is upland, so the River cannot move farther east. It will eventually move farther west, and there is nothing man can do to stop it.

The technology in place would have been familiar to Archimedes and Vitrivius. There is nothing sophisticated about it. The only remarkable thing about the flood control system for the Lower Mississippi is its scale.

You are correct in saying that we have massive resources to try to keep it there. But eventually the water will find level. There are about 80 tons of water a second trying to drop 14 feet at Old River. You are not going to stop it forever.