Missouri/Kansas Barge Traffic Overview

By Ryan Gentzler, Kansas City SmartPort

The river barge industry has struggled mightily for the past ten years.  Water shortages caused by drought have affected both the Mississippi and Missouri transport systems in the past few years, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has had to constantly adjust to unfavorable conditions.  In 2006, they took water from Kansas lakes that feed the Kansas River, inciting much criticism from state officials, environmentalists, and others.  Such opposition indicates the difficult and controversial nature of barge traffic; although it is a much cheaper form of transport than truck and railroad, it is subject to many other variables that have rendered it unstable and unreliable for consistent use.

A seven year drought caused the Missouri River to close early for the fourth year in a row in 2006.  Barges on the Missouri River carried less than 200,000 tons of cargo last year, the lowest total since 1951.  An article at the end of 2006 reported that river levels had hit record lows in Kansas City and were barely covering the drinking-water intakes.  Even without the drought, it reported, Missouri River barge traffic has decreased since the 1970s.  St. Joseph spent $1.3 million to build a port in 2003; that port saw only two barges all last year.  According to one article, barge traffic on the Missouri has been in decline for decades.  While the Mississippi represents half of all corn and soybean exports in the U.S., the Missouri is responsible for less than one percent.  In 2004, Missouri River barge traffic was declared all but dead on the water; the Kansas City Star reported that “barge traffic has now disappeared north of Kansas City and trickled to only a few between Kansas City and St. Louis.” 

Despite the barge traffic on the Missouri that has dwindled to nearly nothing, the U.S. Supreme Court refused in April of 2006 to hear a case that would have cut off the river from water supplies in the Dakotas.  This decision was integral in keeping the possibility of barge traffic, though barely breathing as it is, alive for the near future. 

A 2004 Star article reported that Excell Marine Corp. in Cincinnati is trying to regain the confidence of shippers on the Missouri River, said Bob Noland, a port captain. Excell, which tows for Lafarge Cement, has bought another towboat that can run the Missouri, he said.  No information more recent than 2004 could be found on that, so it is unknown whether this is still a focus of Excell’s.

The Mississippi has faced challenges similar to those experienced by the Missouri in recent years, though to a much lesser extent.  In July 2006, the U.S. Coast Guard was forced to issue a low-water safety advisory to the maritime industry, restricting the number of barges in a single tow and how heavily those barges can be loaded.  The industry experienced similar difficulties near the end of 2005; low water levels seem to be a common theme.  The sheer unpredictability of the water levels has frustrated barge operators on both sides of Missouri.

On August 9, 2007, another article providing discouraging news was released by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.  A massive water projects bill pending before Congress aimed at revamping the lock system on the Upper Mississippi River between Minneapolis and St. Louis to the tune of $1.2 billion has begun to lose support due to research findings.  The latest U.S. Army Corps of Engineers figures show a 35 percent traffic reduction since the Corps began studying the need for lock expansion in the early 1990s.  These dramatic declines in traffic are occurring despite improved performance of the locks resulting from a robust rehabilitation program by the Corps.  The existing locks are now performing so well with traffic levels so low that they are idle more than half of the year.  The Corps continue to justify further renovation with “wildly optimistic traffic forecasts.”  President Bush has already vowed to veto the plan should it be passed by Congress.  A comprehensive argument against expansion of the Mississippi River lock system is provided by the Environmental Defense organization.

Despite this, the Mississippi River is still a major avenue of trade, especially for agriculture.  In 2006, it was reported that 60 percent of the nation’s agricultural commodities are exported on the Mississippi.  Emerging suppliers of grain in South America, especially Brazil and Argentina, however, are expected to negatively affect U.S. exports in coming years.

In short, barge traffic on both sides of the state has been severely affected by a continuing drought throughout the Midwest.  Low water levels have limited the number and size of shipments on the Mississippi and forced operations to close early for several consecutive years on the Missouri.  Though it is unclear exactly what the relationship is, the troubles with maintaining a consistently available and productive waterway has been accompanied by a very significant drop in barge traffic on both the Mississippi and the Missouri.  A $1.3 million dollar port in St. Joseph, just four years old, is all but empty.  Unfortunately, there’s really no reason to be optimistic about the near future of Missouri barge traffic; numbers are down, and attempts to improve the system have consequently come to a standstill.