Mississippi River drought over, but situation still shaky

By TAMMIE SLOUP

FarmWeek

 The drought that plagued the Mississippi River basin since 2022 and resulted in ag shipment delays and higher transportation costs is officially over.

“I’m happy to report there are no draft restrictions on the Mississippi River for the third week and we do not have dredges operating for low water,” Brigadier General Kimberly Peeples, commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division, said last month. “The Dredges POTTER, HURLEY and JADWIN have completed dredging operations and are on a 72-hour response if needed.”

Low water conditions began in the region in September 2022. The Corps maintained 9-foot navigation throughout the system, working with other industries to identify problem spots on the river, and respond with necessary dredge assets.

The low water levels, a result of dryness across the Midwest and South, reduced the ability for barges to effectively navigate, driving up farmers’ transportation costs as they sought storage and marketing options for their recently harvested crops the past couple years.

The Mississippi River is one of the busiest waterways in the U.S. Of its 4,267 miles of navigable channels, 589 million tons of cargo move on the system each year with cost savings in transportation at $12.5 billion, according to the USACE.

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But as river levels are bouncing back, the chance of drought hasn’t dissipated.

“While river levels have rebounded over the past couple months, river gauge readings are considerably lower compared to years such as 2018, 2019 and 2020,” said Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition. “In addition, much ground in the Midwest remains severely dehydrated, which means that it will require significant and persistent precipitation to occur to recharge the soil and provide residual water to maintain water levels on the river.

“Any prolonged period of dry weather could quickly usher in a return of low water levels. This will clearly be an area of focus in the weeks to come.”

The USACE also is wrapping up public scoping meetings for the Lower Mississippi River Comprehensive Management Study, which is a five-year, $25 million mega-study that will deliver recommendations for effective and practical management of the Mississippi River from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to the Gulf of Mexico.

The purpose of the study is to identify recommendations for the comprehensive management of the region across multiple purposes, including hurricane and storm damage reduction, flood risk management, structure and nonstructural flood control, floodplain management strategies, navigation, ecosystem and environmental restoration, water supply, hydropower production, recreation and other purposes as determined by the Secretary of the Army.

The study area encompasses seven states: Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.

This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association. For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.

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