Falling water levels threaten Mississippi barges
Vital barge shipments have already been disrupted as an ongoing drought hits the key artery of the nation’s inland waterway system.
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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Read this post and current Army Corps reports if you want to know the cause of the problem.
I grew up on the Mississippi around Dubuque. I sometimes tell people I was "born in the back seat of a canoe."
In 59 years, I have never seen as much of the bottom of the river as I do now.
Y'all blaming current politicians are just assinine.
Our problems began in the late 1940's when the Corps of Engineers began manipulating the course, depth and watershed areas of the river. It is not a blame game. It is a lack of forsight like so many of the things we have done in the name of "HARNESSING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES".
The first evidence of a problem was severe Spring flooding which they chose to control with dams and levies on the northern portion of the river; which; caused swift runoff on the northern portions of the river. Spring flooding became severe further South on the river. Then the levies and dredging were increased on the middle portions of the river.
We have destroyed the Mississippi's natural ability to regulate it's own levels, so that in Spring high water season, it drains much faster now. In dry periods the destroyed watershed areas aren't there to enhance water levels.
We have essentially turned the river into a canal beyond our ability to control waterlevels in a drought. Another lesson the hard way.
It is soooo sad to stare at river bottom where I used to fish and swim in 10 feet of water.
The country was built by innovators that invested in America. Like J.P. Morgan. Wheres the investment on that type of scale now? The railroads where built by Government and private investors. We are spending Billions on foreign aid and war. Lets put that money to use here at home. Spur our economy
When they remove rocks from the bottom of the river, where do they put them? I hope at the sides of the bottom of the river, because taking them out completely lowers the level of the water!
The role of the Mississippi River in our economy is one of the nation's least understood secrets. Ask anyone who works on it, it is a commercial cargo moving waterway and NOT a recreational stream.
The Corps of Engineers is doing everything it can right now to keep the river open using both Corps owned and private contractor equipment. The problem everybody forgets or ignores is that the Corps of Engineers also has a boss, and it is called Congress. Despite working for the people who LITERALLY make our money, the Corps is shackled by underfunded budgets that severely limit its ability to get the job done. The men out there blowing out the rocks and dredging up the sand take pride in their work and strive to get it done right, but when the beancounters say "That's it, you're out of money," they have to quit. The result is a hodgepodge of quick fixes at the crisis spots of the moment.
Don't blame the Corps for holding back the Missouri River and "allowing" the Mississippi to dry up. Remember that they are only doing what their boss has ordered them to do. No, President Obama and Congress did not cause the drought, but they ultimately are the ones who control how the Corps of Engineers wrestles with it.
90% of corn and soybean exports are barged down the Mississippi? What corn and soybeans exports? The same drought that turned the mighty river into a giant mud slide also crippled crop production last year nation wide. Large farms that still produced crops did so by irrigation, using the water that ultimately would have fed the river thereby contributing to its current state of trickle. How did crops from far away places, like Nebraska, get there in the first place? By rail. Same crops could have been transported, by rail, to the Great Lakes and or West coast for international shipping. Considering that extreme weather is predicted to get worse rather than better, perhaps processing facilities and additional rail should be built in these other regions as a contingency.
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