Levee Levee A levee (), dike, dyke, embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines. Speakers of American English (notably in the Midwest and Deep South), use the word "levee", from the French word "levée" (from the feminine past participle of the French verb "lever", "to raise"). It originated in New Orleans a few years after the city's founding in 1718 and was later adopted by English speakers. The
Des Moines River people. The Native American term was "/mooyiinkweena/", a derogatory name applied to the Moingouena by the Peoria people, a closely related subgroup. The meaning of the native word, according to an early French writer, is "visage plein d'ordure", or in plain English, "shit-face", from "mooy-", "face", "-iinkwee", "shit", and "-na", "indefinite actor". The 1718 Guillaume Delisle map (pictured) labels it as ""le Moingona R."" During the mid-19th century, the river supported the main commercial transportation by water across Iowa. River traffic began to be superseded by the railroads constructed from the 1860s. The river has a history of seasonal flooding.