Mississippi River reaches lowest point in decade – Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper

Mississippi River reaches lowest level in decade

Revealed 5:00 am Wednesday, October 12, 2022

NATCHEZ — The Mississippi River at Vidalia and Natchez has reached its lowest level since 2012, however not the bottom ever recorded.

Based on river stage knowledge from the Jackson Nationwide Climate Service, as of Tuesday afternoon, the river stage at Natchez was just below 13 ft and forecasted to crest at 13 ft earlier than the weekend. It may recede to only above 11 ft by Oct. 24.

The bottom river stage recorded within the final decade was 7.66 ft, recorded in August 2012, and the subsequent lowest was 8.78 ft, recorded in December 2012.

“Satirically, this was proper after we had a historic flood in 2011, so it’s like we went from one excessive to the opposite,” mentioned Daniel Lamb, a meteorologist on the Nationwide Climate Service Jackson workplace.

The bottom stage was recorded at destructive 1.7 ft in 1940. River levels aren’t the identical as depth, Lamb mentioned. The zero stage is predicated on long-term knowledge and may be at totally different depths relying on what space of the river is measured.

“That’s why you typically have destructive levels. Even when the river stage is zero, it’s not empty,” Lamb mentioned.

The flood stage at Natchez is 48 ft.

“That is the standard time of 12 months that it’s decrease,” Lamb mentioned, including the dry season between September and December performs a job. The river is often at its highest between March and Could, largely due to snowmelts within the early Spring, he mentioned.

Nevertheless, areas that the Mississippi River pulls its water from have been drier than regular.

“As a lot as any contribution of native rainfall … the river stage is impacted much more by what’s coming from upstream,” Lamb mentioned. “It’s been fairly dry upstream from Natchez in areas that feed into the river.”

Memphis and St. Louis, are anyplace from 4 to six inches under regular rainfall and from Arkansas to Oklahoma is anyplace from 6 to eight inches under regular, Lamb mentioned.

“It has been dry in these areas for a protracted interval,” he mentioned.

Low water has induced some barges to run aground regardless of low water restrictions on load sizes.

Vidalia Mayor Buz Craft mentioned he hasn’t heard of the low water disrupting river visitors to and from Vidalia however feels that it would quickly.

“I really feel that it’s going to only from previous expertise,” he mentioned. “I can keep in mind one 12 months (the river stage) obtained all the way down to 9 foot one thing. Sandbars uncovered exit to the center of the river. Navigation goes to be tighter proper by way of Natchez and Vidalia however I can’t see river visitors being utterly shut down.”

The low water has lowered the manufacturing of energy on the Sydney A. Murray Hydroelectric Station, positioned 40 miles South of Vidalia, which lowers city income from the much less energy being bought.

“It does harm,” Craft mentioned.

The city collects royalties equal to six % of the facility generated by the plant. Craft mentioned sometimes, the income from that will be $3.3 million per thirty days from 6.6 million kilowatts of energy bought. Nevertheless, the city noticed solely $974,000 of that of their final royalty test for 1.7 million kilowatts.

“We’ve been good stewards of our funds and we’re stable in paying payments however it does lower into our revenues,” Craft mentioned. “We’re in fine condition. … That is the primary 12 months in a very long time we’ve been blessed to not have a variety of flooding points. Spring rain will carry the water stage again up.”