Record snowfall is now catching up with several states as snowmelt starts to flood rivers. A big concern right now is the upper Mississippi River. It’s not expected to crest in parts of Wisconsin and Iowa until later this week or even into next week. That means many towns might see flooding and washed-out roads for days. It’s also impacting traffic on the river and the movement of ag goods.
This spring is a reminder of how dramatically the pendulum can swing when it comes to the inland waterway system. We’ve gone from historically low water levels on the Mississippi and other major rivers this fall to high and near-record water levels that are presenting a challenge for barge transportation. That is particularly true along the upper Mississippi River. At McGregor, Iowa, the river is 6' above flood stage and is expected to crest about 1' from the all-time record. Charts from the U.S. Geological Survey highlight river stages, such as Clinton, Iowa, which went from a low of 8.9' on Jan. 2, 2022, to 20.6' this week and above flood stage. That is shutting down those locks.
Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, says: “As the result of it, we’re seeing some closures of locks largely between the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, even up to as far south as Quincy, Ill., so that’s something that is obviously of concern and merits attention. Again, it really just reinforces the fact that supply chains can be quite erratic, particularly when you’re talking about the inland waterway system.”
Many of the locks will remain closed until the first and second week of May, which impedes the delivery of any remaining grains for the export market, and, more importantly, northbound fertilizer for planting.
“That’s something that obviously is a concern for us, seeing any kind of interruption of that kind of service or having that be diverted on to other modes of transportation that are oftentimes more expensive and sometimes less reliable,” Steenhoek says.
He says flooding risk might be lessened in locations further south at which point the river is wider and the geographic area is more distributed, such as in St. Louis where the gauge reading is a little over 16' verses its low of minus 3.5' at the end of last year. Flooding in the northern states on the James River and in the Red River Valley could mean some fields will not get planted and farmers will have to take prevent plant.
