According to Bloomberg, the ongoing drought in the central United States is causing the Mississippi River to shrink, leading to a spike in barge rates and potentially disrupting the transportation of goods like corn and gasoline.
David Welch, a hydrologist with the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center, explained that the worsening dry conditions in the Ohio River basin, which feeds into the Mississippi, have exacerbated the already low water levels in the larger river. The Mississippi, an essential route for transporting food, energy, and steel to international markets, typically experiences reduced water levels during this time of year.
It’s at low enough stages that the barge industry, and navigation industry, has to be sensitive how much draft, how much load, they can put on barges.
..Welch said.
As explained, although the Mississippi River’s water levels are currently higher than last year’s lows, the ongoing drought highlights the increasing risk extreme weather poses to crucial waterways. Over the past two years, dry conditions on the Mississippi have caused bottlenecks during peak grain shipping periods, forcing farmers to find alternative routes and contributing to rising global food prices. Additionally, low water levels in Brazil’s Amazon River are now threatening crop shipments there.
Shipments of crude oil and petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel, might also be impacted. However, the volume of crude transported by barges and tankers has decreased over the past decade due to the expansion of pipelines. Last year, approximately 36,000 barrels of crude and petroleum products were moved from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast, a significant drop from the peak of 80,787 barrels in 2013.
The reduced flow in the Mississippi River also threatens drinking water supplies. Low water levels diminish the river’s ability to block salt water from the Gulf of Mexico from moving upstream and contaminating water sources for towns in southeastern Louisiana. To combat this, the Army Corps of Engineers plans to construct an underwater barrier for the third consecutive year.
According to Welch, water levels are expected to stay low or potentially worsen due to a lack of rainfall in the coming weeks. The US Drought Monitor reports that parts of West Virginia and Ohio along the Mississippi are experiencing extreme drought, while a larger region including parts of Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky is unusually dry. Drought conditions are also affecting the states along the lower Mississippi.
