U.S.Barge Traffic Left High & Dry in River Mississippi

The Lake Providence Port is high and dry through drought after U.S. Army Corps of Engineers abandoned efforts to dredge its access channel.

Louisiana farmers scramble to find other avenues to ship as much as 1 million tons of corn and soybeans out of the region.

An average of 850,000 tons of grain is shipped from the Lake Providence Port annually during harvest season, but bumper crops of corn and soybeans are expected from northeastern Louisiana farmers, which could have pushed that amount above 1 million tons.

Port Director Wyly Gilfoil sent an e-mail to state lawmakers Friday informing them the port currently can't load barges because of low water levels on the Mississippi River. "Low river levels impact not only the loading and transport of barges, but the fleeting or storage of barges is severely compromised as well," Gilfoil wrote.

The river stage at Vicksburg, Miss., was 1.8 feet Saturday. The average river level in July at Vicksburg is about 22 feet.

"Here we have an abundant crop while others are suffering and we're struggling to get it out," said U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman.
"They're telling us there just isn't enough water," he said. "If more dredging will help, we're certainly going to advocate for it, but I'm not sure it will at this point."

Gilfoil said the corps moved its dredge to the Madison Parish Port to have at least one port operational during harvest, but the Madison port isn't designed to take on the volume of grain Lake Providence handles.

Thompson said the dredge the corps was using in Lake Providence wasn't effective because a channel connects the river to that port's harbor, while the Madison Port is directly on the river.