The Army Crops of Engineers is monitoring water levels in the Missouri River to ensure ag transportation isn’t disrupted by drought.
Colonel Travis Rayfield, district commander for the Kansas City District of the Army Crops of Engineers, tells Brownfield they’ll release water from reservoirs to maintain a water level suitable for navigation. “The draft on the barges dictates how much material they could put in there. It also dictates the pricing rates. We wanted to be forthright and really partner with industry so that we could get a good, predictable environment to move up and down the river.”
Rayfield says dryness in the upper river basin in Montana has reduced water flows downstream and that could create potential barge traffic challenges.
