MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A year after the Mississippi River swelled to near-historic proportions and flooded farms and homes from Illinois to Louisiana, the level along the waterway’s southern half is so low that cargo barges have run aground and their operators have been forced to lighten their loads.
Wide, sandy strips of shoreline usually invisible even in the low season are now exposed, shrinking the river’s width and affecting the way tow captains navigate.
Such is life along the nation’s main inland waterway, where millions of tons of goods are shipped every year, some of which end up as exports departing from south Louisiana ports. Those who make their living along the Mississippi learn to adapt to the river’s fickle nature.
“It’s remarkable, but it’s completely normal,” said Jim Pogue, spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers in Memphis. “You get a low river, you get a high river, but it’s completely normal.”
There isn’t much man can do to deal with the exceptionally low river, which at Memphis, is just about 6 feet above the record low.
“Pray for rain,” said Tommy Hart, director of the port in Greenville, Miss. “I’m not a big fan of rain, but this time I am.”
Aside from that, the best coping mechanism is careful navigation. With the river this low, the channels are shallower and narrower, presenting problems for barges loaded with coal, grain, iron, steel, sand, gravel and more. They must reduce their loads to avoid bottoming out and take extra care not to collide when passing another string of barges in the thinner channel.
Also, low water at docks and terminals makes it more difficult to load or unload material, as ships have trouble getting close enough to docks. Companies must get permits from the Army Corps to dredge near their docks to find deeper places to load and unload.
The National Weather Service said the Mississippi River gauge in Memphis was at minus-4.8 feet on Friday, but there’s no need to panic. The “minus” reading does not mean the river is dried up — it’s just a measurement based on how the river gauge is designed. Essentially, the reading means the river level is far below normal.
The Weather Channel has the full article
