The Mississippi River has long been a symbol of American strength, unity, and prosperity.
And yet, lately it’s been stricken by drought, causing it to recede in places it previously
hadn’t.
Because of this, not only are there an abundance of items and oddities washing up ashore, but
there could be some serious implications on the local and national economy.
Join Viewcation, as we present: The Mississippi River Drought Reveals Horrors Beneath the
Surface.
When you travel to the Mississippi River, you usually expect to see America’s greatest
water expanse shining across the horizon.
And yet, drought conditions have drastically changed this.
Nowadays, you’ll see previously-sunken ships that have now reached the surface, as well
as a random array of new islands, caused by the recession of the water.
Locals who have grown up with the raging waters of the Mississippi are shocked and dismayed
to find that the once healthy river is now running at dangerously low levels.
The Mississippi doesn’t only have symbolic importance either.
Its long-running current has supplied water and power to the towns and cities that run
along it.
And often if they were worried about the river, it was because it was swelling and causing
local flooding.
But these days, it’s the opposite problem.
The waters are suffering from drought conditions, putting the region, and the nation in peril.
And dredging up an odd assortment of items that were previously underwater.
The lowest in 30 years Things are particularly bad in the Lower Mississippi.
This is the portion of the river south of Cairo, Illinois.
Levels there are the lowest they’ve been in more than three decades.
And if the region doesn’t see some serious rainfall soon, conditions could get worse.
It has already put the region's waterway system in danger, as well as drinking water.
And this isn’t just a local issue.
The Mississippi, at 2350 miles long, brings water to a huge part of the country.
It touches 10 states and then branches out into many smaller waterways and tributaries.
So not having enough water in the Mississippi itself can have ripple effects on more than
40% of the US.
The river also serves as a major transportation pathway, as cargo ships use it to carry about
500 million tons of goods every year.
This not only includes non=edible goods, but also a huge percentage of the world’s food
supply.
So the stakes of the Mississippi River remaining at normal levels can’t be overstated.
Because of the current conditions, ships have had to carry less weight, meaning fewer goods
are being transported.
It also means fewer ships can be out on the water at a time, meaning there are essentially
traffic jams up and down the river.
That causes companies to have to use more fuel, spiking the price of transporting goods.
Unearthing a variety of things In recent years, other rivers have gone through
a similar process, and there have been a host of odd and sometimes horrible things unearthed
as the river waters have receded.
For example, the Colorado River has been slammed by drought, and this has led to the appearance
of everything from shipwrecks and plane wrecks, to dead bodies.
The receding waters of the Mississippi have begun to reveal an assortment of items as
well.
For starters, known islands are popping back up.
Such is the case with Tower Rock, which is an island in Missouri.
While it wasn’t totally hidden previously, it is not accessible by foot for the first
time in a century.
People are finding household items like keys, fans, and phones.
They are also discovering sunglasses, and larger items, like BBQ grills.
Recently in Baton Rouge, LA, a 19th-century trading board was unearthed.
It had been sitting just under the water's surface until the recent drought.
The historical relics are among the interesting finds that locals have been dredging up.
One man from Memphis discovered not only a belt buckle that dated to the Civil War era
but also bullets from the war.
Other items found Dozens of previously sunken ships of a variety
of types are slowly being discovered along the Mississippi.
They ranges from houseboats to more historically important ships.
For example, in 2004, the town of Donaldsonville, LA tried to boost tourism to the area by featuring
a three-masted ship called Le Pelican as a tourist attraction.
The ship had belonged to an explorer from the 1600s named Iberville.
Sadly, the ship sank, and the town wasted its two million dollar investment in the project.
But now, almost 20 years later, the ship is back… sort of.
The waters around it have receded, so you can catch a glimpse of what a 17th-century
exploration vessel looks like.
In Biloxi, Mississippi, residents have noticed the newly unearthed remains of a former riverboat
casino.
It was called The Diamond Lady, and it was actually one of the earliest of its kind to
set sail in the south.
This was back in the early 1990s.
It was found in McKellar Lake, which is just south of Memphis.
Another odd find was by a man named Wiley Prewitt.
Prewitt lives in Oxford, MS, and he discovered an item sticking out of a local sandbar.
Upon closer investigation, he discovered it was a jaw.
When he researched its origins, he discovered it was a jaw from an American lion.
This species went extinct more than 10,000 years ago.
His find was historical in itself – he’s only the fourth person to discover an American
lion fossilized jaw ever in Mississippi.
Emergency Relief In response to the receding waters of the
Mississippi from this recent megadrought, legislation is being proposed to help.
The Mississippi River Restoration and Resilience Initiative is being brought before congress.
If it passes, it will provide much-needed money to focus on restoring and conserving
the Mississippi.
There would be grants available for state and local governments along the Mississippi’s
route, as well as for nonprofit companies and Native American Tribes.
It would hopefully provide some relief for the devastating effects the low waters are
having on the region and the nation.
In addition to the economic aspects, there are environmental and animal components as
well.
There are 45 species of amphibians that live along the Mississippi, as well as 50 kinds
of mammals, and 241 species of fish.
Hopefully, this measure will pass, and funds can be allocated in time to help ease the
pain of the drought.
The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative Recently a news conference was held by the
Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, and it featured local mayors and other leaders
of towns along the Mississippi.
They publicly asked for federal help to combat the effects of Mississippi’s drought conditions.
They pointed out that the Mississippi River basin produces a huge percentage – around
92 percent – of the agricultural exports in the United States.
It also produces about 80% of the exports to the world of soybeans and feed grains.
This means the drought is no longer a local or even national problem.
It now has global repercussions.
And because the Mississippi is the biggest drainage basin in the country, the physical
effects of the drought are quickly moving through much of the country.
The Department of Agriculture’s Midwest Climate Hub said that around 50% of the Upper
Mississippi Basin is in drought conditions, and over 90% of the Lower basin is as well.
The mayors asked specifically for federal distaster funds to be used to help the towns
and cities affected by the drought.
They also requested that farmers who volunteer to move their land out of irrigation paths
be given subsidies, and that more money be put into methods of minimizing drought in
the future.
Shipping Delays Americans had to deal with the harsh reality
of shipping delays that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.
And according to experts, the same thing could happen because of the drought in the Mississippi.
They say that while it might not happen as quickly and dramatically as it did during
the pandemic, it still will come.
For example, one local official pointed out that things like a lack of road salt for snowy
days will be severely felt during the dead of winter.
There are also health risks.
Dry conditions mean that pipes are more likely to freeze.
A town in Missouri, Cape Girardeau, had their main water valve break recently, because of
the ultra-dry conditions.
That meant there was a serious threat to the drinking water in the area.
Not only that but there are many cities that had to completely overhaul their water systems
after massive flooding in 2019.
This new issue might mean they’ll have to completely redo all that work.
Experts point out that this shows just how interconnected various climate issues really
are.
It’s clear that this is a problem with no easy solution.
Climate extremes are sadly beginning to be the norm for our country and our planet.
And often, we aren’t able to see the real effects of these changes until it’s too
late.
Legislation and funding will help ease the pain in the short term, but it will certainly
take more long-term planning and measures to fight climate change to make any kind of
real progress in maintaining a healthy ecosystem for the Mississippi River and the rest of
the world.
In the meantime, if you’re planning to travel to this region, it can be helpful to be aware
of the effects the Mississippi River drought is having on the area.
But we also hope it doesn’t discourage you from visiting these areas, since they are
still treasures of our country!
Now it’s time to hear from you?
Did you know about the drought that the Mississippi River is going through?
Do you think it’ll have a significant economic effect on the country?