ARKANSAS, USA — The Mississippi River has reached record low levels for the second year in a row due to a lack of rain upstream. This means barges are not moving and those that are, are not filled to capacity.
Why does this matter?
This river along with the Arkansas River plays a big role in exporting and importing goods to and from Arkansas.
Arkansas exports soybeans, grains, and other goods along the Arkansas and the Mississippi River.
Arkansas Water Ways Commission Director, Cassandra Caldwell, says if things don't get better soon, Arkansans will be paying more for everything.
"It increases the cost of shipping, it increases the cost of, you know, the stuff we buy at the store," said Caldwell.
She says the impact here locally is not as bad as in East Arkansas, but it's still there.
"You'll have traffic coming from Tulsa, coming from Muskogee, Keota, there's ports and I know as well. You'll have stuff coming in from Oklahoma that are that's going to come through the Van Buren Fort Smith area and traverse the entire river down to the Mississippi," said Caldwell.
Hunter Biram is an assistant professor and extension economist with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. He says not only will it hurt farmers' bottom lines, but it will also limit imports like fertilizer.
"I was just talking to a farmer yesterday who that was his concern. So he is a farmer who he did store he did risk management with his grain, but he's worried about those high fertilizer prices that could come because of less supply," said Biram.
Caldwell says last year's levels on the Mississippi River were just as bad but everyone was better prepared.
"The Corps of Engineers was a little bit more prepared. So they had dredges on location ready to go. And they've been doing a really good job of, you know, dredging out the areas where, where there are groundings," said Caldwell.
How will this get fixed?
Both officials say rain upstream is what's needed the most.
"The rivers that pour into the Mississippi River, if we can see rain across those areas. That should alleviate a lot of these problems," said Biram.
Caldwell says even after it rains upstream, it will take a while before normal barge traffic is flowing again.
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