Drought Threatens Mississippi River Shipping Corridor

While the saga of the drought-stricken Colorado River is well-documented, another important American waterway, the Mississippi River, has fallen to historically low levels, disrupting a major shipping corridor. According to an article by Ben Tracy for CBS News, “Economic costs are estimated to be in the billions.”

Paul Rohde, who represents the river's shipping and towing industry, calls the operational challenges “almost unprecedented,” expressing concern about the ability of the river to continue serving as a conduit for forty percent of the world’s food supply, as well as other key commodities like petroleum, fertilizer, and road salt.

“The Army Corps of Engineers has been dredging the river nonstop for three months to help keep barges moving. It is desperately trying to maintain a nine-foot-deep shipping channel near St. Louis, sucking up enough sand and silt to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool every hour.” But as Lou Dell'Orco, chief of operations for the St. Louis District Corps of Engineers points out, “We can dredge it to a certain point, and then Mother Nature wins.”