Falling Mississippi River levels begin to threaten barge, cruise ship traffic

With the lack of recent rain here and upstream, the Mississippi River is falling to low levels that could begin to interfere with barge traffic.

The Cape Girardeau river gauge sits at 9 feet, which is more than 10 feet below readings at this time last year. Normally, the lower levels of the year occur in late summer or early fall. 

Dredging operations are underway in river channels near Memphis and from Mississippi to Arkansas to clear space for fully loaded barges to get through. During extreme low water, barges are loaded with less cargo, making each trip less profitable.

The low water could also complicate schedules for the three main river cruise ships that travel up and down the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

Another sign of the river's low levels is that water is receding again from Tower Rock between Cape Girardeau and Chester.

Tower Rock, usually surrounded by water hundreds of feet from the Missouri shoreline, can be reached on foot when the water level is below 1.5 feet at the Chester, Illinois, river gauge, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. This week the Chester gauge has fallen to 3 feet.

That gauge dropped to around zero on occasions last October, and hundreds of curiosity seekers flocked to the rock.