Corps monitors low water on Upper Mississippi
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, continues to closely monitor water levels on the Upper Mississippi River as drought conditions continue across Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The low water is not affecting shipping conditions on the river and navigation continues.
"Low flow is exactly the conditions for which the locks were built," said Dan Fasching, St. Paul District water manager for the Upper Mississippi River. "The locks, combined with dredging efforts, are used to maintain navigable depths in the main channel."
The lowest flow recorded at Lock and Dam 2, in Hastings, Minn., was in 1976, when the flow fell to only 500 cubic feet per second, or cfs, and navigation continued. The current flow at Lock and Dam 2 is around 3,000 cfs.
Water levels along the Mississippi River can be monitored at https://water.usace.army.mil/.
The St. Paul District navigation program provides a waterborne transportation system on the Upper Mississippi River for the movement of commercial goods and for national security needs. To do this, the district maintains a 9-foot navigation channel and 13 locks and dams from Minneapolis to Guttenberg.