Mississippi River level nears historic low

The lack of rainfall across the entirety of the Mississippi River basin since mid-August has caused the river levels from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico to drop.

The Mississippi River had fallen to -8.65 feet on the gauge at Memphis Wednesday. The near record low water levels have disrupted the loading of barges at riverports up and down the river.

The inability to get agricultural crops moving due to operators being unable to load them on barges is causing a serious disruption in the flow of goods to the gulf.

The lack of available alternative means of shipping those crops, mainly by rail, has many shippers in dire straits.

Approximately 60% of the wheat, corn and soybeans transported to the Gulf Coast goes by barge down the Mississippi River. The ultimate cost of goods to the consumer will not be felt by those consumers until sometime next year. Even the planned release of water from the Ohio River into the Mississippi, above Memphis, and a near half inch rainfall in Northeast Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel and Northwest Tennessee will do little to stop the fall of the river, with the overall level dropping to near nine feet today.

The barge disruptions are causing shippers to seek other means of transporting goods down the river.

The near record drop in the river level which reached its fifth lowest level on record this week has caused a disruption in river traffic between Memphis and New Orleans, La. The United States Corps of Engineers said there were a total of eight barge groundings on the lower Mississippi Oct. 8-12 which halted traffic on the river in both directions.

The low water level also caused a Viking Cruise line voyage to be canceled. Viking representatives stated the cruise originally slated to load in New Orleans Saturday had to be loaded in Baton Rouge instead. The cruise ship carrying 350 passengers had its trip interrupted near Lake Providence Tuesday. Viking officials decided to cancel the rest of the cruise Thursday.

The outlook for relief from rainfall in the upper and lower basin is not rosy. The National Weather Service forecasts dry weather to continue for the forseeable future. It is quite possible river levels may not return to near normal until the snow melt next spring.