I just ran across this article that says the water level in the Mississippi River in one stretch is expected to drop low enough to potentially become impassable to barge traffic within a couple weeks. A historic drought and the diversion of water from the Missouri River instead of flowing into the Mississippi River are given as the reasons for this extreme low level of water. Apparently, barges have already been running with lighter loads through that stretch.

Sounds very bad. I'm just wondering if there's anyone with more knowledge about the situation who might have a less dire understanding of the situation. Wildman, you out there? I'm wondering if this situation really means that all barge traffic could be stopped at that chokepoint, or are we actually only talking about a particularly shallow lane in that stretch of the river? Is this a situation that would persist or would the water hit "bottom" and then gradually start rising again in a short time on its own? Anyway, just trying to get a better picture of the situation and figure out how much is hype.

I wonder how much grain is transported through that area during the winter months along the Mississippi and what sort of impact on grain prices might occur if barge traffic were severely impacted? Or maybe the impact is more for grain exported abroad and not so much on domestic supplies? Of course, there are plenty of things besides grains that are transported on the Mississippi, but agricultural products have been hit so hard by the drought lately, so that's on my mind.

The big problem is that while you could open the gates on the Missouri dams, for how long with the current precipitation pattern can you keep that flowing until the reservoirs are too low for the water to get out the gate? And since that water is used for irrigation, along with hydro power and municiple water supplies, how long can you pay Paul and move grain right now before by robbing Peter you impact the ability to grow grain next year?

I don't know the answers to either of these questions, I kind of came in tonight specifically to look for Wildman's opinion on this.

And my opinion is, any system that is as perfect in it's operation and as complex and large as the US/Canadian logistic system, once one piece breaks, the question is how bad does the rest of it stumble. *sighs* I'm going to shut up now, I'm depressing myself.

I haven't sailed up that away in 2 years. That being said, YES, one shallow stretch can bring everything to a halt.

The barges are being loaded lighter now and have been for some time. Approximately 2/3rd's of the midwest grains move by barge to Louisiana ports for shipping overseas.

The next rise will not occur until next Spring and then the June Rise, if there is sufficient snowfall this winter and rain this spring.

The load levels, based on the report last week, stated the Ohio River is now restricted to less than 9ft drafts.

Thanks for the input, Wildman. If this comes to pass, hopefully there's enough barge traffic downstream from that shallow area to keep you working.

I'm in central Iowa, and I have never seen the rivers and lakes so low. Big Creek, that's part of the Des Moines River system, is currently showing more than six feet of extra shoreline. The DNR wanted to put in new boat ramps this winter, and the builders were able to pour the concrete footings in place instead of floating the docks into position.

If the precipitation pattern doesn't change, it's going to make this years harvest look like a windfall compared to next years I'm afraid.

Wow, sounds like an adventure! Huck Finn would be proud!

I doubt this Mississippi River level issue would affect a houseboat (not that I know anything about houseboats), not unless the houseboat comes with its own 25m lap pool or four lane bowling alley to weigh it down!

I work in the canals right now which are under tidal influence. The water levels thus are stable and change as the tide Floods and Ebbs.

The Corps of Engineers will normally dredge a narrower bit of the channel at a chokepoint and thus the water depth can be maintained if only for one way traffic. This tactic will also increase the current speed through the chokepoint which means a fast passage for downstream vessels and a slower passage for upstream vessels which are fighting that faster current.

Rivers such as the Quachita River in Louisiana and Arkansas have been so low this past summer that only one barge at a time can be pushed upstream to a grain elevator (2 days travel), lightly loaded (6-8ft deep), and then brought down to a fleet staging area (2days travel. This means that a lightly loaded grain cargo leaves the elevator every 5-6 days. That is why the elevators are still full and most have corn or other grains heaped upon tarps and covered by tarps. Some of those outside piles have measured 300ft long x 100ft wide x 3 stories in height.

Lack of water is also reducing tow sizes from 42 barges for a 10,500hp tow down to 25 barges for a 5,000-6,500hp tow. So the barges are loaded lighter, the tows are smaller, and grain is still waiting out in the weather, waiting to go to market. Higher food prices are already reflecting the transportation problems being encountered.

Hey Izzy, if yall decide to make that trip, let me know and we can meet, if you like and I 'll loan you some charts and pubs (as in marina locations for fuel, water, etc) plus tell you many things about the river that will keep you alive and well (where it's safe to anchor, radio channels for different parts of the river, hazardous areas, etc)

An alternative trip is renting a houseboat from the marina at Fulton, Ms, going up the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to the Tennessee River, to the Ohio River(Paducah, Ky), to Lower Mississippi River (Cairo, Il), to the Industrial Canal (New Orleans, La), east on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to Mobile Bay and north to the Tenn-Tom Waterway (Mobile, Al), and north to Fulton, Ms.

That is a great trip with outstanding scenery!!

The article I linked to seems to say that dredging won't be possible at places like Thebes, IL since the river bottom is rock along that stretch of the Mississippi. Although if the situation is dire enough, I suppose the Corps can always find a way to deepen the channel there but that would take so long that I doubt that kind of project would alleviate any stoppage this winter.

Thebes, Il is on the Upper Mississippi River. The rock bottoms start at Cairo, il and is almost continuous up to mile 32.0 UMR.

You're right about rock. That requires blasting and then clamshell removal. Most likely not going to happen in the immediate future.

BTW: there is a wicked little cross current at Thebes RR Bridge that pushes towards the left descending bank. Many tows have problems there both upbound and downbound to stay off the bridge pilings.

Just read this article. Sounds like regional authorities and the Corps of Engineers are going ahead with some remedies--increasing the flow of the Missouri River and also removing rock "pinnacles" from the river bottom. Even so, it may take some time.

Actually, the pinnacles bit was something new for me. From the article, I guess they don't have to actually blast a large channel through the rocky river bottom, which would be a major undertaking. They just need to clear these rocky formations that jut up into the river and reduce the usable depth of water along that part of the Mississippi.

Sounds like they are going to "round off" some of the points first. Locating pinnacles along the river bed is very difficult until some tow slices a barge hull open.

Just an update on this issue. I was reading this National Geographic article. If nothing else, the article highlights how vital Mississippi river traffic is to the economy--the global economy, not just the US economy.

Looks like river navigation is OK for now, but they're not out of the woods yet. The Army Corps of Engineers are still smoothing the river bottom near Thebes while they release reservoir water to keep up the water level. It's basically a race against time, but it sounds like it'll be OK.

From the article:

Wildman, how does the situation look from someone actually working on the river? Optimistic?

I haven't been on the river for two years now. We just started a contrct, or rather, resuming the run that we had 2 years ago but that only covers 4.7 miles of the river.

The Lower Mississippi River is good for awhile because the rains that have fallen over the last couple of weeks in the Lower Mississippi River Drainage Basin and Ohio River Drainage Basin.
I don't know what the largest allowable tow size at this time is.

The problem is the Upper MIssissippi River which is affected by the ongoing Mid West Drought in both the Upper Mississippi River and Missouri River Drainage Basins. Basically speaking, It's the Upper Mississippi River that is threatened by the water shortage. The largest tows that can navigate the Upper River, normally, is 25 barges.

The current maximum draft allowed on the Upper and Lower Rivers, to the best of my memory is 9 ft.that's up to 4 ft less than normal water levels allowed. That's a lot of tonnage that is NOT getting moved now.

The Max Allowable Draft on the Ohio River is 8.5Ft. That's even more tonnage per barge that is NOT being moved downstream.

Down here in Lousy-anna, we have enough water that the Calcasieu (Lake Charles, La) and Leland Bowman (Intracoastal City, La) Locks are not allowed to work normally so as not to block the flow of flood level waters from the interior to the Gulf of Mexico.

We are looking at a "bumper crop" of Crawfish this year which will also drive the price down somewhat.