There are 85 article(s) tagged Mississippi River:
Sand, silt and clay is essential to rebuilding — or, at this point, maintaining — the fragile coastline that has been receding for decades. But less than 10% of the Mississippi River’s sediment reaches the critical Bird’s Foot Delta.
The four days of intense rainfall set a new record for the period in Memphis and raised the level of the Mississippi River at Memphis dramatically.
In an odd quirk of geography and politics, parts of West Tennessee are across the Mississippi River in Arkansas, a situation that creates difficult situations for people on both sides.
The Mud Island monorail was thought to be a sleek and futuristic attraction when it was first considered and opened in 1982, but it proved to be trouble for those responsible for its maintenance.
Art Davis, the interim executive director of the Memphis River Parks Partnership, has been an accountant, a construction overseer and even Santa Claus during his time with the organization.
For some, the resurgence of the wild rice is a source of wonder. For others, it’s more of a nuisance, making it hard to maneuver boats through areas that were once easily passable.
As low water season begins, the Mississippi River is currently 4 feet higher than the record low of 2023.
Four species of Asian carp have firmly established a home in the Mississippi River basin, and experts say they are here to stay. But one way to get the carp population under control seems relatively simple — eat them.
“This unprecedented investment in Memphis marks the single-largest transportation investment in Tennessee state history and will be transformative for our infrastructure,” Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said.
The cobblestone landing project got underway in 2017. It seeks to make the public and historic space on the city’s harbor more accessible with amenities like floating restaurants.
There are a litany of things that can cause a ship or barge to collide with a bridge, with “Mother Nature being a primary one,” according to a waterways management chief with the U.S. Coast Guard.
The past few years have brought wild fluctuations between flooding and drought, bringing more stress to the communities nestled along the Mississippi’s 2,350 miles.
But moving mountains of sand during historic low water levels creates its own problems.
The Mississippi River is a big deal. One of the world’s great rivers, it hosts an abundance of wildlife habitat and provides drinking water for almost 20 million people. But it seems to carry less reverence than other iconic water bodies across the country.
Within the contiguous U.S., temperatures have risen by 2.5°F since 1970, compared to a global average rise of about 1.7°F over the same period.
Since June, the Army Corps of Engineers has spent $38 million maintaining the Mississippi River channel, mostly through dredging the equivalent of 5,000 Olympic-sized pools of sediment.
After the Mississippi River hit another new low, NASA released images of the river in 2021 and how it looked this past September, showing the change in the Mighty Mississippi.
Memphis has bet on the Mississippi River cruise industry and its tourism dollars, but as the river hits record lows, cruise operators and the city prepare for an uncertain future.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help with what it called a “very unusual investigation” after a woman’s body was found on a barge in the Mississippi River.
Even as the Corps was still confirming data from September’s record low, it registered a new reading Tuesday that was even lower.
Preliminary data shows the Mississippi River’s level at Memphis likely hit a new all-time low in mid-September.
Shippers are being told to expect up to three-day delays, and rates have doubled for barges leaving from Memphis and St. Louis compared to the three-year average.
“One of the first questions is going to be: if this water is essential to prosperity and growth, whose? Should it be those who dream about it in dry places, or those who are next to it?”
The National Weather Service at Memphis expects the river to approach, or maybe surpass, last year’s record low by the end of the month.
As demand for overnight river cruises on the Mississippi increases, the industry also faces increasing climate threats. Recent years have seen wild swings between heavy rainfall and severe drought, making the river tougher to navigate.