Tagged: barge shipping

The issue of keeping Asian carp out of the Great Lakes has implications for a variety of industries.  Midwest officials are weighing a range of options, including severing the connection between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes basins.  This last option comes with a list of potential economic implications for the shipping and manufacturing industry.

For instance, the 70-mile stretch of Mississippi River at St. Louis is one of the busiest inland ports in America—a place where grain, aggregate and steel are loaded and shipped up and down the river.

Mayors from 19 cities and towns are in St. Louis this week to launch a new initiative aimed at bringing greater attention to issues affecting the Mississippi River.

A total of 41 mayors, so far, have formally agreed to the partnership, which is set to begin lobbying congress in March of next year.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said mutual interests trump party politics.

*This story will be updated 

*Updated Sunday at 2:45 p.m. with details river levels and drought relief 

Large parts of rural Missouri and Illinois had between three to five inches of rainfall this weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

In St. Louis, Nation Weather Service Meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said Oakville received three and a half inches of rain, the most in the metropolitan area. 

Gosselin added, though, that it will take much more rain to snap this summer’s historic drought.