Drought shrinks once-vast river
Mississippi sees two-thirds drop in depth in places
Sandbars no one can remember seeing above water are visible from the wheelhouse of the Capt. Bill Stewart as it churns past Hanging Dog Bluff on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis, a warning of more treacherous conditions ahead.
“I’ve been out here 46 years and I’ve never seen it this bad,” Darrell Alford, the 66-year-old captain of the tow boat, said as he steered the vessel. “You’re on edge all the time.”
The worst drought in 50 years has cut the river depth by two-thirds in some places, creating a low-water choke point between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill., for the $7 billion worth of grain, coal and other commodities that typically move this time of year. Barring extra rainfall, the Army Corps of Engineers predicts the river will be too shallow in coming weeks for the tow boats that push barges down the 290-kilometre section of the river.
Carriers such as AEP River Operations LLC, owner of the Capt. Bill Stewart, are rushing to get shipments through in case the river is shut to barges. The extra traffic, narrower passage and shallow water have turned the trip into an obstacle course for the 5,600-horsepower boat as it nudges its 22,000-ton load down the twisty, muddy river at about 15 km/h.
In the most treacherous section, a eight-kilometre stretch that begins about 71 kilometres north of Cairo near Thebes, Ill., Capt. Bill Stewart’s steel hull passes close to submerged rock outcroppings known as pinnacles.
“That is very unfortunate for metal,” pilot Jeff Heflin, 46, said as he steered the tow boat and barges through the pinnacles. “It’s dangerous. You can put it on the ground really easily.”
The Corps hopes to keep the river open by blasting away pinnacles and dredging the bottom in 21 trouble spots between St. Louis and Cairo. Last week, the agency rejected a request from shippers to divert water from the Missouri River, a major Mississippi tributary. On board the Capt. Bill Stewart, news of the decision was met with quiet resignation.
Even if the rock blasting begins as planned later this month, it will take up to two months to complete, according to the Corps of Engineers.
A closure, “seems inevitable,” Heflin said. “They say they’re going to blow out the pinnacles. I don’t know what else they could do.”
The U.S. projects water levels on the Mississippi near St. Louis will drop to a depth about 2.7 metres on Dec. 26, slightly higher than forecast a week ago. Water levels will continue to drop, absent precipitation, the National Weather Service said today in its four-week forecast.
Most tow boats and barges cannot operate at depths lower than 2.7 metres, according to the Corps.