Flooding on Upper Mississippi River Eases: Locks Opening and Barge Traffic Moving

Heavy snow melt forced the closure of several locks on the upper Mississippi River...but high water levels and flooding are starting to ease which is allowing locks to reopen and barge traffic to resume.

The river crested earlier than forecast.  And river gauge readings from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, show river levels are easing in the north. As of May 9, the river at Winona, Minnesota was at 12.6 feet and below flood stage.  The river was at 18.2 feet at Dubuque, Iowa which is at moderate flood stage and dropping.  Farther south, Hannibal, Missouri was at 21.5 feet, just at minor flood stage. 

Mike Steenhoek, Executive Director, of the Soy Transportation Coalition, says, "We're exiting in most of these locations the major flood stage designation and it's moving into moderate flood stage or even minor flood stage and that certainly is beneficial to the communities that are adjacent to the river for barge transportation, that's beneficial."

He says as a result, The Army Corps of Engineers has announced the locks on the Upper Mississippi River that have been closed due to high water levels have already or will reopen later this week.  Steenhoek says, "What we're seeing is a number of these locks that the Army Corps of Engineers had to close for a period of time. Due to the high-water levels, they're able to reopen those many of them have already been reopened in we anticipate seeing the balance of those reopens in the next two to three days. So, seeing that whole system that upper Mississippi River system, roughly from Minneapolis, St. Paul, all the way to St. Louis being fully operational, which is good news."

Steenhoek says due to flooding and lock closures there was some interruption of fertilizer movement which had to be put on rail, but soybean exports were largely unaffected as the volume is modest right now compared to harvest season.