In the News

A hydrologist with the National Weather Service says water levels along the lower Mississippi River are expected to continue to fall.

Mary Lamm tells Brownfield the same problems that were seen on the river this time last year are likely to show up again soon.

“Maybe not quite at the lowest levels we had last year, because we set record levels last year, but I think we’ll see a lot of the same problems we had with lower levels last year.”

Grain barge movements have slowed this month. For the week ending October 19, USDA says grain barge movements were 19% fewer than the previous week and 14% less than the same time last year. But National Grain and Feed Association Chief Economist Max Fisher says the Army Corps of Engineers continue to dredge.

“We continue to ask the Corps to do more dredging to create channels for the barges where even with the lower water levels, we keep those barges moving.”

And he says more rain would be helpful. Lamm says there is rain in the forecast later this week along the Mississippi River, but she says it can go either way.

“It could be a bust or we could end up with three-quarters of an inch, but even a half an inch doesn’t do much.”

Lamm says river levels at Memphis are expected to fall to -10 feet later this week.