Economic Impacts Revised for Potential Mississippi River Closure
to Barge Traffic in January
Waterways Council Release
2 January 2013
Economic Impacts Revised for Potential Mississippi River Closure
to Barge Traffic in January; Effective Shutdown of Nation’s
Busiest Water Transportation Artery Looms Between Early- to
Mid-January
WCI has released revised data on the economic impact of an
effective shutdown of the Mississippi River to barge traffic in
the month of January. Earlier data had examined the impacts
between December and January. The Corps of Engineers’ latest
weather and water forecast for the Mississippi River near Thebes,
Illinois, south of St. Louis, where rock pinnacle removal work is
taking place, suggests that commerce on the Mississippi River
could come to an effective halt between January 5 and 15 when the
required 9-foot draft will fall to an 8-foot draft. The majority
of towboats require a 9-foot draft to operate and only a very
small number of towing vessels can operate at 8- or 7-foot drafts.
WCI and AWO continue to urge the Administration to release a
minimal amount of water from Missouri River reservoirs (an
additional 4,000 cfs or 1% of current storage in the reservoir
system) to avert this effective shutdown of the Mississippi River
to barge transportation. While the Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard
have said that they will not officially close the river, falling
water levels and a lack of sustained water will preclude
navigation because towboats will be physically unable to transit
the area between St. Louis and Cairo, Illinois.
The economic data indicates that in January alone (January 7-31),
the potential supply-chain disruption in Mississippi River states
could affect more than 8,000 jobs, more than $54 million in wages
and benefits, as well as 7.2 million tons of commodities valued at
$2.8 billion. This does not take into account the uncertainty in
the supply chain that affected operations during the month of
December or any potential economic impacts that will extend into
February if the nation's waterborne superhighway effectively comes
to a halt.