Mississippi River extremely low

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  • 3fifty7

    CoonAss
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    13   0   0
    Jul 9, 2011
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    Bunkie
    I’ve seen a few articles and watched a river gauge showing how low the Mississippi River currently is. I’m just south of Alexandria and I want to ride the river Monday afternoon, have a half day off if all goes well. I’ll probably drive into New Orleans first then stop in BR on the way back.
    I’d love to see some current river pics if anyone who is in NO, BR, or Natchez MS would post some.
     

    rdm227

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    Dec 4, 2012
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    Prairieville
    IMG_7945.jpg

    This is the USS Kid in Baton Rouge.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    Tboy

    Moving forward
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    Jul 14, 2008
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    Greenwell Springs
    A friend and I went walked down to see the kid and the old ferry boat yesterday.

    If you go see the ferry the big tank close to the waters edge was the boiler for the ferry. And right next to that is an old model T engine block and steering column.

    There was an older gentleman taking measurements etc of some of the items that told us quite a bit about the ferry and all. Seemed to know all about it.
     

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    mickey

    SSST
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    Gotta love the levee system, ruining one of the most impressive rivers in the entire world within a century.

    I want to see pics of the river at Memphis, St Louis, and Dubuque.
    Not sure where you are going at here.

    If left unchecked it would flood quite a bit down here in the recent years of high water periods we would have and ultimately reroute down the Atchafalaya leaving Baton Rouge and New Orleans dry.
     

    Manimal

    Get'n Duffy!
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    Not sure where you are going at here.

    If left unchecked it would flood quite a bit down here in the recent years of high water periods we would have and ultimately reroute down the Atchafalaya leaving Baton Rouge and New Orleans dry.
    and we'd have a full and robust coast instead of a skeleton full of communities that have to relocate due to erosion.

    Either way people have to move, it's just who/why/where that changes.

    Big business/ag/chem/political families is all they really care about protecting at this point, because they can let every inch of land errode into the sea and we'll never see a inch of land rise above the waves due to it. It's not about saving or helping people, even if it started that way (didn't), it's only about their God Money.
     

    mickey

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    That’s your opinion and it’s ok for you to have that opinion.

    I’ve worked on the river since 1994 and fish the marsh on the coast. My opinion is quite different.

    Not sure if you are following the Maurepas Swamp project and Bayou Lafourche project.
    But those projects are looking to introduce more fresh water/sediment into those areas.
     
    Last edited:

    Manimal

    Get'n Duffy!
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    That’s your opinion and it’s ok for you to have that opinion than I do on the topic.

    I’ve worked on the river since 1994 and fish the marsh on the coast. My opinion is quite different.

    Not sure if you are following the Maurepas Swamp project and Bayou a Lafourche project.
    But those projects are looking to introduce more fresh water/sediment into those areas.
    Those long straight channels all through the marsh, the places we love to fish/trawl and that the oil companies put there, are one of the main contributors to coastal erosion and increased storm surge encroachment from hurricanes.
    When we take away the sediment distribution from the floodwaters of the Mississippi & Atchafalaya (and elsewhere), it becomes a system dominated by erosion and ultimately decay. The thousands and thousands of old dying (from salt water encroachment) Live Oaks along the coastal highway are a testament to what once was and what now is. The change in LA maps every the last 30 years is as much because of better mapping tech as it is land loss.

    All of those fertilizers/pesticides/fungicides/sediments going into the Gulf is just wrecking the hell out of stuff. . An example: there is a reason that Red Snapper season is so short, in spite of all of the conservation efforts over the last couple of decades. Now they even regulate Mullet and Whiting, something unheard of in the past, and they are fished less now than any time in modern history (granted people use huge nets now...so that's something, but I bet most of us don't know 5 people who eat Mullet or who know what a Whiting is).

    Without the levees those nutrients would deposit in soil along the delta, and the waters would recharge our rapidly depleting aquifers, and we'd live in a kumbaya utopia! lol

    We can fix it, just need to recognize the problems.
     

    mickey

    SSST
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    Again, our opinions are different.
    High water that we have had in the past few years would have been devastating for us without levees. The commerce that happens from Baton Rouge to the mouth of the river is absolutely necessary for us to live as we do today.

    I guess the biggest take away from this volley is that the current river level being so low has nothing to do with the levee system. No rain through the middle of the US has produced river levels not seen since 1988. This equates to less tonnage in barges and on tows heading south that will equal more money on your grocery bill. Couple that with a railroad strike following the midterm elections and there will be more to worry about than snapper season.
    If it makes you feel better, there will be a lot less runoff of fertilizer into the river this year due to it’s cost.
     

    Abby Normal

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    Metry
    Y’all should have listened to Don Dubuc on WWL radio Friday. He was talking with critics about the river devision & how much it cost and my not work but will destroy shrimp & oyster fishing. They said & I agree that the dredge sediment from the river should be used to build back the marsh. Closing the oil co canals was also suggested.
    But to say the levees are all bad is foolish unless you want your SELa home raise 20 ft in the air. And there would be little to no industry on the river. No industry, No jobs & no tax base. Ask St James parish when they had to cut teachers because Shell Convent closed. Something should have been done about the land lose starting in the 70s when La Conservationist brought it up. But we needed studies! The studies will fix it, but don’t use the dredged river sediment. That is what would end up in the marsh without the levees anyway.
     

    mickey

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    Absolutely
    Just like the opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway in the recent years of extended periods of high water. Commercial fisherman were enraged due to the fresh water being diverted.

    It’s mind blowing to see the corp of engineers yearly budget when it comes to the dredging bill. Dredges working below the upper Baton Rouge bridge are maintaining channel depth for deep draft vessels. The dredge spoils are 1. Discharged out of a pipeline out of the crossing. 2. Collected into the belly of a dredge ship and dumped out of the navigational channel.

    Private for profit dredges filling sand pits pull more sediments out of the river than anything I know of.
     

    Manimal

    Get'n Duffy!
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    Before the modern levee system there were private and public levees that protected many people. They were not perfect either, but they did a pretty good job of protecting a lot of homes and towns. Some epic flood years were bad, normal years were not.

    I'm OK with selective use of levees, but some places really need the floodwaters.

    They don't ask me anyway.
     

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