GRAYSON: Stuck in the Mud on the Mighty Mississippi

Submitted by Charles Grayson with Bigger Pie Forum

“The result will be an inflationary bump to food prices and probably other goods,” Grayson writes.

Currently, the Mississippi River is setting record low water levels and will probably set more new records in coming days.

Barge shipping on the river, vital to the U.S. economy and especially for midwestern farmers, is grinding to slow motion.  Extra costs are growing by the hour.  The result will be an inflationary bump to food prices and probably other goods.

Low rainfall across much of the Mississippi River Basin largely accounts for low river stages.  The falling water level is not the whole problem, however.  Combine the low water levels with the higher and rising river bottom, and it becomes clear why shipping is so heavily impacted.

RELATED: BPF article – Tip of a Mudberg

The Lower Mississippi River bottom has been rising for decades due to silt deposition. This is especially fast from between Vicksburg and Natchez south to Donaldsonville, LA.

RELATED: BPF article – A Deep Dive Into the Lower Mississippi River

Large mudbergs and shifting sand bars slow heavy river flows causing worse flooding and block shipping during low flow.

Silting of the river is accelerating, so expect floods to be even longer and higher and traffic on the river to be stuck in the mud longer and more frequently.

For further references, see BPF Project Mississippi River Flooding, Mississippi River Flooding Charts, and Mississippi River Flooding MRC Presentations.

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Submitted by Charles Grayson with Bigger Pie Forum. Promoting market-driven economic growth for a bigger and brighter Mississippi. Learn more about BPF here.