Having spent my working life in the maritime field I find your post spot on Gary. Our boats were 7,200 HP and would handle 30 barges S/B in good river conditions and 42 N/B. I can remember having this condition every few years and just the opposite in the spring when the snow began to melt and the river would reach flood stage in the New Orleans area. When it became very serious they would open the spillway and divert river water into the lake.
Hope your post was an education to those not familiar with the river system.

Don

We have taken water for granted way to long. Living in Winona Minnesota about 2 miles from the mighty we get to enjoy this resource for all kinds of activities without much thought of its deeper importance. Moving out of the Mississippi Valley by about 3 miles one can witness the wasteful use of this precious resource in very inefficient way of watering crops by proadcast sprinklers. There we pump water from aquifers deep down; only about 10% is doing good for the crops. The mighty Oglala aquifer is 75% depleted because after the dustbowl we just drilled millions and millions of straws down there to suck up its resource. When will we ever learn?. JMTC
WJH

Having spent my working life in the maritime field I find your post spot on Gary. Our boats were 7,200 HP and would handle 30 barges S/B in good river conditions and 42 N/B. I can remember having this condition every few years and just the opposite in the spring when the snow began to melt and the river would reach flood stage in the New Orleans area. When it became very serious they would open the spillway and divert river water into the lake.
Hope your post was an education to those not familiar with the river system.

Don

Curmudgeon, Thanks for reading and for adding content. I added this post to voice that there are many things connected to inflation and the state of the economy other than the price of fuel. We are all like spiders living on a web where each thread affects us for they are all connected.

Water is a finite resource that constantly gets recycled. There will never be more and there will never be any less water on the planet. It just is somewhere else, including the water that makes up our bodies. When we die, even that water gets recycled.

As areas of the earth warm, the surface water evaporates into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, water vapor is one of the largest sources of "greenhouse gases" making the heat content of the air rise even higher, which drives more evaporation, which raises the temperature, and on and on.

The uneven heating and cooling of the earth along with its rotation and moisture content create pressure differences that drive the winds and carry away the moisture in the air. As it travels it condenses and rains down in areas most often not accustomed to such heavy downflows. This is a cycle that is presently impossible to control due to scientific and economic limitations.

The rivers are the backbone of life including commerce. Low rivers are a serious problem...including the higher density of pollution that becomes more and more concentrated.

We live within walking distance of the confluence of the Meramec and the Mississippi Rivers. I have seen both rivers through epic 100-year floods and droughts in my lifetime. This year, the low level of the Mississippi River, particularly south of Memphis all the way down to Vickburg, will significantly impact the already crushed economy.

Think of the Mississippi River as the trunk of a great tree with all of its branches reaching to the east and west. With the drought in the west, the Mississippi River is experiencing low levels that are causing closure to barge traffic in addition to causing the need to "short load" barges so that they won't draft more than eight feet (typically loaded barges draft eleven feet of water).

So, why will this be a big deal, and why even more so this time of year? I'm glad that you asked.

One towboat can move fifteen barges. Fifteen barges can displace 1,050 large semi-tractor trailers or six locomotives with 216 rail cars. THAT'S HUGE..! In addition, a barge crew normally consists of 10 to 12 men, not 1,050 truck drivers.

Now for the "Big Deal". This is harvest season and the barges move grain from America's bread basket to market both domestic and export. Winter is approaching and the amount of coal, again for domestic power plant generation and export, will be diminished (we've got to charge those electric cars too). Fertilizer moves UP the Mississippi River this time of year and the farmers that need to till and fertilize will have limited resources, and of course, increased prices. Also, many farmlands rely on the river for irrigation, municipal areas rely on the river for their source of potable water (St. Louis, MO is one of them) as well as a way to expel their municipal and industrial waste (YUK..!).

Barges are becoming grounded in the low river level. The U.S Corp of Engineers is dredging where areas have been filled with silt, however, dredging does little if there is not enough water to raise the level.

I've attached a graphic that shows the carrying capacity of a typical 15-barge that moves up and down the Mississippi River and a graphic that shows the nation's various river basin drainage. The purple in the middle is the Mighty Mississippi which provides a reference as to how much of the nation feeds this river along its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride and this is another link....a significant link...in the supply chain.