LOW WATER IMPERILS MIDWEST BARGE TRAFFIC

LOW WATER IMPERILS MIDWEST BARGE TRAFFIC    Record low water levels in the Mississippi River system have seriously hindered barge traffic in recent months.
   A group of more than 250 waterways carriers, shippers, port authorities, and shipping associations, known as Waterways Work!, is lobbying Congress to develop regulations to better manage water flows throughout the year from the Missouri River into Mississippi River.
   “The current state of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers puts commerce and future exports in jeopardy at a time when our country’s economic recovery is at stake,” said Dennis Kirwin, president of Waterways Work!, based in Washington.
   “The current state of the rivers has caused a dramatic increase in shipping costs, up to 63 percent over the last two weeks,” said Greg Guenther, an Illinois farmer and member of the National Corn Growers Association. “These higher costs reduce farmer income and cut into our ability to purchase supplies, equipment upgrades and fuel, as well as costing jobs in our community.”
   Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, R-Mo., agrees with the industry group that water resources management should be improved on the river system. “As we edge closer to a disaster on our waterways and a complete shutdown of the waterborne movement of essential commodities bound for export, it points up the need for better management of our water resources so that we have enough water for barge transportation during the critical agricultural export season,” he said.
   Waterways Work! praised the Army Corps of Engineers for its round-the-clock channel dredging to help alleviate the groundings, in addition to the water release from Upper Basin sources.    However, river stages are expected to drop another foot by Jan. 26, the lowest depth in more than a decade.
   “Current Missouri River alternatives under consideration would create a significant increase in low water situations more often in October and November, causing disruption and increased costs to farmers at a time when U.S. grain shipments are moving into world markets after harvest, unless the (Bush) administration restores long-term predictable water flow from the Missouri River into the Mississippi River,” the industry group said.