Is the Mississippi river in danger of drying up?

America's Most Crucial Waterway Is Drying Out Low water levels on the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee, US, in late 2022. Water levels on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers are falling for a second straight year, raising the prospect of shipping problems along the all-important US freight routes.



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The Mississippi River is recovering from drought conditions and current and projected weather forecasts state more favorable conditions into the future.

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Levels are rising now but to a point where it may introduce other complicating factors. Water levels along the Mississippi River near Memphis are more than 21 feet, which is nearly a foot higher than where they were in April 2023, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

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The Mississippi River is the third longest river in North America and flows 2,340 miles from beginning to end. It takes 90 days for a single drop of water to travel the Mississippi River's entire length.

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As crazy as it sounds, engineers say the idea is technically feasible. It would involve building a system of dams and pipelines to move the water uphill across multiple states over the Continental Divide. Gravity would then work in our favor to drop the water down to the Colorado River watershed.

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The 2,340-mile-long Mississippi River is so low from hot, dry weather just a few months after severe floods helped replenish it from critically low water levels last year.

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Downstream of St. Louis, the Mississippi River is free flowing all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River also provides an important source of water for drinking, cooling, recreation, and fish and wildlife.

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The Colorado River is drying up due to a combination of chronic overuse of water resources and a historic drought. The dry period has lasted more than two decades, spurred by a warming climate primarily due to humans burning fossil fuels.

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With the amounts of boats traveling and shipping on the Mississippi River, it has become polluted and is still not recovering. In fact, according to an article written by riverproject.org, the Mississippi River has been one of the most polluted rivers since the 1700's.

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What Causes the Dead Zone? Heavy rains and melting snows washed massive amounts of nutrients—particularly nitrogen and phosphorus—from lawns, sewage treatment plants, farm land and other sources along the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico.

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The Mississippi River is flowing at its lowest level in at least a decade, and until rain relieves a worsening drought in the region, it's becoming increasingly difficult to maintain water levels high enough to carry critical exports from the nation's bread basket.

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Since 1983, years of drought along with high water demand have caused the lake to drop by 132 feet. Today, the lake is at only 30% capacity, its lowest level since it was built in the 1930s. Fortunately, heavy rainfall early in 2023 has relieved the situation a little, but only temporarily.

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Hoover Dam, a concrete-arch gravity dam, captures water from the Colorado River and fills Lake Mead. At capacity (1,221.4 feet above sea level), the lake is the nation's largest reservoir, able to contain 28.9 million acre-feet of water covering about 248 square miles.

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