- [Narrator] The MISSISSIPPI RIVER is drying up.
Water levels are approaching record lows,
BARGES are getting stuck on sandbars
in unprecedented numbers.
Many ports and docks no longer have water deep enough
for commercial boats to safely reach them.
And this is a problem for the whole country.
- The MISSISSIPPI RIVER a lot of people
just think of it as this beautiful
large historic river in the middle of the country,
but really it serves as a transportation highway
for a lot of industry.
- [Narrator] The river is a critical shipping route
for agriculture, oil and building materials.
And the MISSISSIPPI WATERSHED
which includes all the creeks, streams, and lakes
that feed into the MISSISSIPPI RIVER
is the largest in the US.
- Farmers in Iowa,
they harvest their soybeans
and they put them on BARGES and send them down
to the port below New Orleans,
and then that's sent to China.
Chemicals are processed in Louisiana
and sent it up river to the Ohio
to factories in Pittsburgh.
The central part of this country
thrives in part on industry,
moving goods and services up and down the river.
- [Narrator] October is traditionally
a month of low water on the Mississippi.
But this year, the rivers water levels
are approaching lows not seen since 1988.
- And if that's the case,
the river at certain points
is just gonna shut down for commercial traffic.
- [Narrator] The water has gotten so low
that a shipwreck was exposed
along the banks of the river
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana earlier this month.
Archaeologists believe it's sank in 1915.
In recent weeks, there have been over 20 blockages
on the river and backups of 1000s of BARGES per day.
- When a barge gets stuck on a sandbar,
it's a real expensive mess.
Another barge has to come,
you have to bring equipment
to remove that material
and put it in another barge
to the point where it will float enough
so that it can get off the sandbar.
- [Narrator] In some cases the TOWBOATS,
which pull dozens of BARGES each
have hit sandbar so hard
that the BARGES they're towing disconnect.
And that's dangerous for bridges and other boats.
Riverboat cruises have also halted
due to low water levels.
Industry leaders say,
if water levels stay this low or get even lower,
the tourism industry will take a massive hit.
So what's causing the river to dry up?
- [Cameron] It just did not get enough rain this year,
particularly in the upper OHIO RIVER VALLEY.
Normally, this is hurricane season in the south.
Some hurricanes will plow into the United States
and then become enormous rainstorms
that go up into the OHIO RIVER VALLEY
and dump a lot of rain.
That didn't happen this year.
- [Narrator] And industries that rely on the river
to transport goods don't have many alternatives.
- It's not as though a farmer
can just run to the railroad
and that solves the problem.
The rail system is so pressed right now
and they've have labor shortage issues.
They have capacity issues that they're running into.
- [Narrator] But sticking with the river
will be costly for farmers.
Normally, shipping along the MISSISSIPPI RIVER
is the cheaper option.
But with fewer boats
and BARGES able to transport goods prices have shot up.
For example, the cost of sending a ton of corn,
soybeans, or other grains
from St. Louis to southern Louisiana
has jumped over 380% since October 2021.
The fall harvest season,
which usually peaks in October
is the busiest time for agricultural products.
- If you can't get a rail line out,
your soybeans are just sitting in an open field.
I mean, a lot of farmers
are hesitating to even harvest right now.
Let's say there are massive rainstorms
and your soybeans are just sitting out there,
that could really, really really be disastrous.
- [Narrator] This disruption along the river
comes at a time when the war in Ukraine
has prompted huge demand
for American agricultural products.
- And farmers are very excited.
They can't get their stuff to market.
They can't get it to market.
Not easily and not cheaply.
- [Narrator] Over the last few weeks,
the U.S. COAST GUARD has imposed restrictions
on the depth that commercial boats and BARGES
can sit in the water,
and on the number of BARGES that tows can pull.
Both actions are to try to stop BARGES
and boats from getting stuck.
But industry leaders say it's not enough.
- There's no real answer except for the rain.
There's hope that beginning around December,
rain will start to fall in the OHIO RIVER VALLEY
to an extent where it'll start to bring
that water back down to the Mississippi
and things will get better.
If not, we're all in a lot of trouble.
(gentle light music)