Low Mississippi River forces boats aground

ST. LOUIS -- Drought conditions have forced Mississippi River levels lower than usual for December, running barges aground and prompting the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the river south of St. Louis, officials said Tuesday.

Water levels stood at minus 1 foot on Tuesday and were expected to remain there for a few days, said Lance Engle, district dredging project manager for the Army Corps in St. Louis. That is up from the minus 1.5-foot level reached over the weekend, he said.

If the drought continues, river levels could dip to their lowest levels in 13 years this winter, Engle said.

"Unfortunately, we're at the mercy of mother nature," he said.

Three of Alter Barge Line's 15 barges ran aground over the weekend near the Jefferson Barracks bridge, just south of St. Louis, said Larry Daily, president of the Bettendorf, Iowa, barge line.

It took eight hours to get the barges free, he said. The company did not report injuries or serious damage to equipment.

Companies also are suffering economic damage from low water levels, said Lynn Muench, regional vice president of The American Waterways Operators trade group.

"This is really putting a crunch on these guys financially," said Muench, whose 375-member group represents tow, tugboat and barge operators in the United States.

She said the low water levels force barges to haul lighter loads, boosting the cost of transporting the goods.

"This really increases the cost of doing business," she said.

On Dec. 26, 1989, the river reached minus 5.1 feet, the lowest since its record on Jan. 16, 1940, when it reached an unprecedented minus 6.1 feet, Engle said.

The measurement is pegged to an arbitrary scale established during a dry spell in 1863 for the St. Louis stretch of the river, Engle said.

While low levels are normal during winter, the St. Louis part of the Mississippi is typically four to five feet higher in December, Engle said.

The district runs from south of Hannibal, Mo., to Cairo, Ill.

Lock-and-dam systems protect the district to the north, while downriver from St. Louis gets help from a slightly swollen Ohio River, Engle said.

"Last year we hit minus 2, but we were well into January," he said. "Hitting these low river stages this early is odd."