Mississippi River May Soon Be Unnavigable, Despite Army Geoengineers' Best Efforts
Mississippi River Dam No. 7 USGSThe Army Corps of Engineers is nearly out of options for keeping a section of the upper Mississippi River flowing. Rain or shine, the battle of the Mississippi rages on. The vital shipping lane that supports middle-American economies from the Upper-Midwest to New Orleans is once again in dire straits as the Army Corps of Engineers struggles to control Big Muddy--this time by making it deeper. Wracked by the worst (and longest) droughts in memory, the Midwest and the river are critically short on water, so short that the shallowest stretch of the river between Cairo, Ill. and St. Louis could become unnavigable in the next month, and the Corps of Engineers is just about out of geoengineering options to mitigate the problem, NPR reports. The Army Corps of Engineers has been building and managing the complex and sprawling system of levees, locks, dikes and spillways...