Falling water levels threaten Mississippi barges

Commercial traffic along America's busiest waterway is in danger of grinding to a halt as a record drought continues across much of the U.S.

The U.S Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard are keeping federal and state officials briefed on the state of the Mississippi River, which normally carries close to $3 billion in commodities every January.

But this month has been far from normal when it comes to water levels along the historic river.

Reuters reports the Corps has been dredging parts of the Mississippi for six months now to give barge traffic the "draft" or depth of nine feet needed by most commercial vessels.

They've also been working to remove rocks from the river bottom at a potential choke-point south of St. Louis, Mo., near the Illinois towns of Grand Tower and Thebes, by the middle of January -- around the time the river is expected to reach dangerously low levels.

The Corps is also releasing water from some Midwestern lakes and reservoirs to keep water levels along the mid-Mississippi from dipping too low.

The University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute calls the Mississippi "the most critical artery" of America’s inland waterway system. The river, it notes, transports more than 90% of U.S. corn and soybean exports to the Gulf of Mexico. Many energy utilities also rely on river barge shipments of coal and oil.

Shipping organizations say the low water levels have hurt commercial traffic along the Mississippi for months, in some cases doubling transit times, reducing the size of barge shipments and cancelling some orders. And they’re looking for continued assistance from the federal government to keep those water levels up.

"If a barge has a 14-day transit time from loading to the low points on the river, barge operators and their customers must make plans based on the forecasted water depth at the time of the barge’s arrival at the bottleneck," Michael Toohey, CEO of Waterways Council, said in a press statement. "That is why longer-term assurance that barges can reliably load to a 9-foot draft even beyond January is absolutely critical."

According to the Council and the American Waterways Operators, Mississippi River supply chain disruptions for the month of January alone could affect more than 8,000 jobs and more than $54 million in wages and benefits -- as well as the transportation of 7.2 million tons of commodities valued at $2.8 billion.

Disruption of Mississippi River commercial traffic is already having a ripple effect across the nation’s transportation sector.

USA Today reports that 15 river barges can carry the same amount of freight as 215 rail cars or 1,050 large tractor trailers.

And Seeking Alpha says railroad companies like CSX (CSX), Kansas City Southern (KSU) and Union Pacific (UNP)  are "waiting in the wings" to see how much more demand for their services will increase, as the water levels along the Mississippi continue to drop.

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