Mississippi River Drying Up

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yogi
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Mississippi River Drying Up

Post by yogi »

We were talking climate change in another thread. Thought you might be interested in seeing this in that you lived near the river at one time.

https://gizmodo.com/photos-show-the-mis ... 1849742864
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Kellemora
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Re: Mississippi River Drying Up

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I remember a number of years ago when it was very low.
But what I remember most is the Meramec River being so low that there was just a small 4 foot wide trickle of water flowing down to the Mississippi River from it.
While it was that low, we took the opportunity to add new piers for my brothers dock and extend it out about 10 more feet. Plus we poured a small boat ramp over the top of the old boat ramp and about 8 feet longer than the original, which was poured another time years earlier when the river was down.
Some rain up north somewhere had water flowing backwards into the Meramec River for over a month, then out west got some rain and the Meramec River was coming back up to its normal height once again.

One of the first Marina's where my brother kept his boat, when the Mississippi went down, all the boats in that marina were sitting in the mud. The place he's at now, the water in the marina is around 20 feet deep, and although the River is low, they can still get in and out of the marina OK. They too are taking an opportunity of low water to do some marina cleanup and trimming of the banks, adding rocks at the banks, things like that.
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yogi
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Re: Mississippi River Drying Up

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I found the article interesting because it's hard for me to imagine anything the size of the Mississippi running out of water. I've seen pictures from Boulder Dam where the levels there are very low as well, but I think the Mississippi is being fed by a lot more than the Colorado River. I would guess marinas do not need frequent repairs and waiting for the river to go low first has to be a bit of a chance. I thought docks and boat ramps could be built in the water and didn't need dry land for construction. Maybe not. It all fascinates me to no end. All I've seen up close were the locks up around Galena, Illinois, where barges travel the river. I'm wondering what it looks like up there these days. I've not been that way in ages.
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Kellemora
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Re: Mississippi River Drying Up

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Most dock in Marina's are Floating, but they are still secured on large Pipes driven down sometimes to bedrock and filled with concrete. They work sorta like a model rocket launchpad. You have a long wire in a stand, and on the rocket you have short little tubes that slide over the long wire. A dock works about the same way. A sleeve on the dock slides down over the long pipe and then affixed to the dock so it can float up and down in place.
Some docks are done more cheaply. The dock is totally free floating, but held in place by chains to the bank in a V-fashion so the dock cannot move left or right. Often the Ramp leading to the dock is what holds it a certain distance from the water, by using hinges on both ends, one hinge into the ground on the bank, and the other hinge at the dock itself.
My brothers fishing dock only had poles at the far end of the dock, and they were set in concrete at a time when the river was low. When it was super low, we added another set of poles further out, also set in concrete, so now his dock finally had four poles, plus the chains to keep it solid in case of flooding.

You have to remember there are many Locks n Dams along the Mississippi River. And most of those upstream will try to hold water so the water level is above their intake for the water supply for their city. However, that being said, there are laws in place that they cannot not release water at less than the same rate as the normal water low flow. So they use higher flow rates to fill their reservoirs when possible, and have to suffer if the water flow is less than the established figures.
This also has an affect on the Locks as well. They must account for how much water is used during the Lock Process of raising a boat, and can only do so many boats before they reach the limit during periods of low water flow. This is why some barges are backed up for miles, waiting for a turn, and praying for rain further north, hi hi.
Early Summer is usually not a problem due to the Winter Ice Buildup melting and feeding the rivers.

A LOT of Rivers flow into the Mississippi River! Just above St. Loo is the Missouri River, and south of St. Loo is the Meramec River. Down here the Tennessee River flows into it, and up north the Ohio River flows into it, and probably hundreds more small rivers.

I've seen a few small Ferry Boats sitting down in the MUD when the smaller rivers were nearly dry, hi hi.
One was the Bourbous River, and another was the Big River, two of which we used to go fishing on a lot when I was younger.
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yogi
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Re: Mississippi River Drying Up

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The only up close view of boat docks I've had were on small fresh water lakes. The ones I can recall didn't have any mechanisms for adjusting to the water levels. Then, too, inland lakes usually stay close to a given level all the time. The Fox River up in Illinois has a ton of lakes attached to it, but I have no memory of examining the docks in those I've visited. I believe I've seen that hinged dock at one of the resorts we used to stay at. Most of the residents there, however, seemed to have stationary boat docks. I don't think there was a problem with the water level being too high, but the lake probably is drying up now that we are in a drought.
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Kellemora
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Re: Mississippi River Drying Up

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Most fishing docks are permanent structures that are not floating. They go underwater during a flood, which don't matter because no one is going to be going to their cabin during a flood anyhow, much less fishing, hi hi.

The lake here they never let vary by more than a 1/2 inch or so, because it is surrounded by all the wealthiest people around here. It has gone down about 1 inch around 15 years ago, and you wouldn't believe all the screaming and hollering that went on by those well to do folks. So they brought it back up again real fast, hi hi.

Marina's on Rivers, even though they are in a slough usually, all have floating docks that I've seen, here and back home.
TVA would let the Mississippi River dry up in St. Louis before they would let the lakes down here vary by much. Except for the flood control lakes. In Missouri they have Clearwater Lake, which is a flood control lake, they only keep at 1/3 pool. So it could be a 1/2 mile drive from the high water shoreline to the actual shoreline.
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yogi
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Re: Mississippi River Drying Up

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I've seen more than a few retention and detention ponds, and didn't realize there were lakes for the same purpose. I guess I would not have a need to know all that living in the city my entire life. I'd expect people who live on the shores of lakes have a vested interest in the water levels. I've had occasion to visit one or two of those old fishing ponds and was not really surprised that they are all private now. The bars and taverns that used to rent fishing boats are all gone and replaced by condos. There was some natural beauty of the surroundings that was a part of the fishing expedition. Now the lakes I've seen are for local residents only and the shorelines are cluttered with buildings instead of the wildlife I remember being there. I guess real estate is more profitable than renting fishing boats. It's a shame but now if I wanted to go fishing it would be a several hundred mile drive. Then again, I don't know much about Missouri. There might be some potential here.
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Kellemora
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Re: Mississippi River Drying Up

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In Missouri, along the rivers anyhow, 15 feet from the edge of the water, during normal water height, is state property, so folks can't make you leave. They can try, but it does not good, it is not illegal for you to be there.
Lakes are a totally different story though.
If there is a Dam, then TVA is who controls the water levels, and normally the water level is higher than the state sanctioned normal water height for the river they build a Dam across. So all of that land is usually private land.
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