I've spent most of my life in the Midwest and I've probably crossed the Mississippi River a hundred times, maybe more. I never gave much thought to the significance of the river, except when it flooded. But as we traveled the length of the river for "The Mississippi" series airing this week producer Hart Billings, photographer Mike Malanga, and I realized what a majestic body of water it is.
Early one Sunday morning we watched a group of giggling school girls walk across a series of rocks on the Mississippi's headwaters in northern Minnesota. There, the river looks more like a stream. But, 2500 miles south in New Orleans we marveled at the huge expanse of the river. There we watched barges load grain onto huge ocean-going cargo ships. It was almost unimaginable that it was the same river that we saw in Minnesota.
We also experienced the volatility of the Mississippi. During our visit to the St. Louis area, heavy rains quickly raised water levels on the river, forcing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to halt barge traffic for nearly a week. In less than 24 hours we watched the Mississippi swallow steps leading from the Arch to a nearby park.
Here are some numbers I gathered during my research that provides additional perspective: At its headwaters, the river's flow rate is 6 cubic feet per second. At its mouth, it's flow rate is 600,000 cubic feet per second. The river's watershed drains 41 percent of the continental United States. And, about 300 million metric tons of cargo travel up and down the river annually.
The Mississippi River is truly awesome!
Comments
When I think of the Mississippi river I have to think of the wildlife that depends on it. Birds, fish, frogs, turtles, snakes. I also think about the trees on the edge of the river. Like how far the natural hardwoods go before they are lumbered off.When the river floods are there septic tanks or sewage pipes flowing into the river. Its nice to be romantic about a river as big and beautiful as the Mississippi. But I think being romantic won't keep it beautiful. Things are changing very fast now and we're gonna have to stay on our toes to save this majestic natural resource. We need to ask the hard tough questions and be willing to look at the truth.
Diane: Thanks so much for paying much-deserved attention to the Mississippi River, this nation's greatest natural asset. Audubon and many organizations are working hard to address the river's challenges for the benefit of birds, other wildlife and people. The river sorely needs a system-wide, balanced vision that addresses public safety and economic security in increasingly fragile coastal Louisiana, water quality, wildlife habitat loss and floodplain management. Congress must make a real investment in the river's future.
P.S.
If you think are roads and bridges are falling apart in this country you should look and the locks and dams on the upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers that were built in the 1930's. But like everything else it will take a MAJOR lock failure to open the eyes in Washington that our infrastructure is falling apart and fast.
http://home.att.net/~johneesser/stern.html
The Inland River Industry is the most unseen arm of Transportation in this country. Most have no idea that there is even a River Industry at all.
http://home.att.net/~johneesser/stern.html
John -
Thanks for being the grammarian. As you can tell, fewer editors review our blog entries, so some mistakes slip by. Since Diane is on vacation, I made the correction.
The Mississippi is truly awesome. But it's still managed and developed (or not developed) in chunks. There's protection in some spots, but not in others. Is this something you looked into? At America's Waterway, we're looking into ways to develop whole-River approaches to the Mississippi's character, condition and future. Did you find any others who are doing the same?
Anne
In the program there was a comparison between the fuel cost of barge shipment versus rail. This is only part of the cost. A few years ago, Ed Burkhart, the president of the Wisconsin Central Railroad, testified before Congress that his railroad could carry all of the barge cargo at a far lower cost than the proposed budget for the Army Corp of Engineers to keep the waterway open for the barge industry.
(I realize that the collateral economic damage of letting the barge industry is another consideration, and one that I can't determine.)
Its, not it's!
Frank,
Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I've corrected it. The headwaters of the Mississippi are indeed in Minnesota. I even visited lovely Lake Itasca for "The Mississippi" series. I must have had Michigan and the auto bailout on the brain when I wrote the entry...
Diane:
The headwaters of the Mississippi are in
Minnesota, not Michigan.
Frank