http://qui.live.mediaspanonlinen.com/rss/ Quincy Herald Whig en-us By EDWARD HUSAR Herald-Whig Staff Writer While the Mississippi River has fallen to exceptionally low levels in the Memphis, Tenn., area and points further south, depth remains at normal levels on the upper Mississippi and is expected to stay that way even if the drought continues for weeks to come. "That's what the dams do for us," explained Ron Fournier, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Rock Island. Fournier said the series of locks and dams on the upper Mississippi, north of St. Louis, is designed to create a stair-step series of pools providing a navigation channel at least 9 feet deep. He said the pools are doing the job -- even while drought conditions have caused the river to dip to uncommonly low levels in the waterway's southern reaches. The Associated Press reported this week that the river had dropped so low in areas near Memphis that cargo barges have run aground and their operators have been forced to lighten their loads. Meanwhile, wide, sandy strips of shoreline usually invisible even in the low season are now being exposed along stretches of the lower Mississippi, shrinking the river's width and affecting the way tow captains navigate. The exceptionally low water conditions on the lower Mississippi are occurring just one year after the river swelled to near-historic proportions, flooding farms and homes from Illinois to Louisiana. "It's remarkable, but it's completely normal," said Jim Pogue, spokesman for the Corps of Engineers in Memphis. "You get a low river, you get a high river, but it's completely normal." Navigation problems along the lower Mississippi have not significantly affected barge shipments on the upper Mississippi. However, barge companies that ship products as far as Memphis or beyond in some cases are carrying less cargo to avoid running aground in shallow water. That translates into more shipments, which cuts into profits. Fournier said the impact on barge lines operating in the upper Mississippi "depends on where they're going" downstream. "They check the levels down there and make sure they don't overload their barges," he said. Mike Herschler, a licensed pilot who works for Canton Marine Towing out of Canton, Mo., said "there's not been too much impact here" from the low-water conditions to the south. The biggest impact in the Quincy area, he said, is some companies "are having to load a little bit lighter than they would" because of the shoaling concerns downstream. "That directly relates to tonnage on a barge," which impacts costs if extra shipments are needed, he said. Because of the minimum 9-foot navigation channel maintained by the Corps of Engineers, he said, many companies in this part of the river ordinarily are willing to load their barges to a 9½ or 10-foot depth, knowing there is usually plenty of leeway in normal conditions. "But when things get thin," as they are now, "they're getting back to 9 foot now," he said. "Usually when things get thin like this, captains will refuse to pick up any barge that's loaded more than 9 foot." Jim McDaniel, lockmaster at Lock and Dam 21 in Quincy, said barge traffic has been moving at a steady pace in this part of the river despite the ongoing drought and low water down south. He said the Corps of Engineers strives to keep the pool above Lock and Dam 21 at a level between 12.4 and 12.5 feet. "Anything above that goes over the spillway," he said. McDaniel said the tailwater level at Lock and Dam 21 -- controlled by Lock and Dam 22 at Saverton, Mo. -- stood at 4.82 on Monday. "That's pretty normal for this time of year," he said. McDaniel said most barges coming through Lock and Dam 21 "are drafting at about 8 feet," so they are able to navigate the upper reaches of the river without any problems. It's a different story to the south, however, where an absence of navigation controls has caused the river at Memphis to drop to just 6 feet above the record low level, causing headaches for barge companies moving heavy goods. The AP reports that the best coping mechanism for barge operators is "careful navigation." With the river this low, the channels are shallower and narrower, presenting problems for barges loaded with coal, grain, iron, steel, sand, gravel and more. They must reduce their loads to avoid bottoming out and take extra care not to collide when passing another string of barges in the thinner channel. Also, low water at docks and terminals makes it more difficult to load or unload material, because ships have trouble getting close enough to docks. Companies must get permits from the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge near their docks to find deeper places to load and unload. One reason for the low water conditions on the lower Mississippi is a lack of rainfall in the Ohio River valley and the north Mississippi River basin, said Ryan Husted, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Memphis. Sections of Tennessee and regions to the north are experiencing drought conditions. Most areas in the Mid-South are 10 inches or more below normal for rainfall for the year, the weather service said. Lower-than-normal snowfall levels over the northern plains this winter are also an issue, Husted said. Less snow means less water from melted snow making its way into the Mississippi and the rivers that feed it. The record low on the Memphis gauge is minus-10.7, set during a severe drought in 1988. That year, a stretch of river about 100 miles south of Memphis was temporarily closed, Pogue said. -- husar@whig.com/221-3378 http://qui.live.mediaspanonline.com/new_story/River-Level-071712