Mayors call for federal assistance as Mississippi River reaches record lows - Star Tribune

Mayors on the Mississippi River are asking for much national assistance arsenic the drought that has plagued the nation's h2o superhighway successful caller weeks drags on.

City leaders shared wide-ranging impacts of adust conditions astatine a Tuesday quality league hosted by the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, from barge slowdowns to h2o main breaks caused by shifting adust ground.

With alleviation from snowmelt crossed the precocious U.S. inactive months distant and aboriginal rainfall predictions tenuous, those tasked with keeping barges moving said they're doing their champion but could usage much assistance the adjacent clip drought strikes.

"Low h2o tin person arsenic large a cost, oregon greater, than precocious water," said Jim Strickland, politician of Memphis, Tenn., wherever stream levels reached a historic low astatine the extremity of October. "We person each these tools astatine our disposal for floods, but precise fewer for droughts."

The Mississippi River is simply a large thoroughfare for goods traveling crossed the U.S. and globally. The basin produces 92% of the nation's cultivation exports and astir 80% of the world's exports successful provender grains and soybeans. Nearly two-thirds of each atom exports from the U.S. are shipped connected the river.

It's besides the country's largest drainage basin, and drought conditions are sweeping the U.S. More than fractional of the Upper Mississippi River Basin and much than 90% of the little basin are presently successful drought, immoderate of which is extreme, according to information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Midwest Climate Hub.

That means little h2o is flowing into the river, slowing shipping postulation and causing troubles for farmers and others successful the basin.

At a larboard adjacent Greenville, Miss., a barge ran aground Oct. 30, causing a backup of astir 80 boats and 1,000 barges, Lt. Phillip VanderWeit, a nationalist affairs serviceman with the U.S. Coast Guard, said Tuesday.

Barges are besides carrying 40% to 50% little cargo, said Paul Rohde, vice president of the Midwest Area of the Waterways Council, a commercialized relation of carriers and shippers. At its worst backup a fewer weeks ago, determination were 150 boats and 2,200 barges stalled on the river, Rohde said.

Though basin residents whitethorn not instantly consciousness the impacts, arsenic they whitethorn person during proviso concatenation slowdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said the delays volition beryllium significant.

"We are going to beryllium hopeless for roadworthy brackish for our winters," Rohde said.

Beyond shipping troubles, the drought is causing different problems successful the basin.

Stacy Kinder, politician of Cape Girardeau successful southeast Missouri, said the metropolis experienced a large h2o main break successful October owed to adust ground, jeopardizing h2o prime for residents.

Water lines and pipes successful bluish states could commencement to frost if adust conditions persist aft the ungraded freezes, said Dennis Todey, manager of the USDA's Midwest Climate Hub. For galore cities that had to bash costly h2o infrastructure repairs owed to flooding successful 2019, the drought could again enactment it astatine hazard – different awesome that the 2 clime extremes are inextricably linked.

And successful New Orleans, wherever the stream empties into the Gulf of Mexico, saltwater is pushing upstream arsenic stream levels drop, threatening municipal drinking water.

The Mississippi River mayors' group, which is made up of much than 100 municipal leaders crossed the basin, is pushing for nationalist argumentation to grip aboriginal droughts – which could get longer, much predominant and much severe arsenic the clime changes.

They privation national catastrophe declarations fixed to states successful drought; policies that let cities to walk Federal Emergency Management Assistance dollars connected drought; compensation for farmers for voluntarily moving onshore retired of irrigation and spending priorities focused connected drought mitigation, among different changes.

When the drought volition subside is uncertain. Over the adjacent month, overmuch of the basin is forecasted to beryllium warmer than average, meaning evaporation volition beryllium a persistent problem, Todey said.

The state is successful a La Niña clime pattern, causing drier, warmer upwind conditions successful the southbound and colder conditions successful the north. The precocious Midwest eastbound of the Mississippi could spot much snowfall this winter, perchance relieving the Ohio River tributary, according to the Midwest Climate Hub forecasts. But it's unclear whether precipitation volition beryllium higher oregon little successful the Plains region, meaning a much uncertain way to recovery.

"It's going to instrumentality respective rainfalls to beryllium capable to commencement resolving this," Todey said.

This communicative is simply a merchandise of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an editorially autarkic reporting web based astatine the University of Missouri School of Journalism successful concern with Report For America and the Society of Environmental Journalists, funded by the Walton Family Foundation.