ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District, has been monitoring low water levels along the Mississippi River this week.
Currently, there are no restrictions in the navigation channel north of Cairo in the district’s area of operations and the authorized depth of nine feet is being maintained with assistance from dredging.
“Based on a 28-day forecast, we do not see any areas where our dredging operations will not keep up with the forecasted falling river stages,” said Lou Dell’Orco, Chief of Operations.
“In addition to the Dredge Potter, we have the Dredge Jadwin from the Vicksburg District working the lower end of the Mississippi and we are using the Dredge Goetz from the St. Paul District to address the Illinois Waterway,” he continued. “The St. Louis District has also utilized the Louisville District’s contract Dredge Bill Holman.”
In addition to actively dredging the river to keep the channel open, our water management office is closely monitoring the current conditions and forecasting future conditions.
“We are currently at -0.7 feet on the St. Louis gage and are preparing the channel for -7.0 feet, although as we experienced in 2012, the fate and transport of sediment gets dicey when below -5.0,” said Joan Stemler, Chief, Water Control Operations. “The Missouri River cutoff, which usually impacts us in late November or early December is the next point we are watching,” she continued.
The St. Louis District maintains close contact with its counterparts at the U.S. Coast Guard and the river industry and will be closely monitoring this evolving situation.
Release no. 22-073