October 1, 2004

What Happens If The Well Runs Dry?

Editorial 
Waterways Journal 
Monday, September 27, 2004

or too long a time now-maybe even three decades-some folks have been worrying too much about whether Missouri River sandbars would provide the best kind of habitat for the interior least tern and piping plover.

Great white knights of the Environmental Roundtable teamed up with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in an attempt to control management of Missouri River water not for the purpose of improving life for mankind but for the purpose of accommodating birds and the endangered pallid sturgeon.

The long-term goal of some environmental groups is to halt navigation, not preserve birds and fish. For how many years have we heard the ups and downs relating to these so-called "endangered" species? Too many, we say! The cry up and down the Missouri has been "Release more water here!" "Hold back more water there!" "Don't move the nests!" "Move the nests!" "Save the birds! By all means, save the birds!" Someone had better start giving some consideration to how to save the people!

Last week we discussed the not-too-bright outlook for fresh water supply around the globe. The well is running dry in many areas of the globe. Yet water is the staff of life. Without it there is no life. With too little of it, water wars such as we have never seen before will erupt. We have already had our own little water war of sorts over Missouri River operations, but behind the scenario the focus has been on birds and fish, not the scarcity of water to fulfill other needs.

We have not heard much recently about desalination plants to make seawater potable. Yet, the time will come when we will be required to spend billions to do just that. We have heard schemes involving towing icebergs from where they are not needed to where they are. Not much on that lately either. As we said last week, some desert countries are already importing more than 90 percent of their water. Certainly others are thinking about it.

Man uses water foolishly much of the time. While in some parts of the world people drink water that is unfit or go without, we pour water into desert areas to create beautiful gardens and change them into areas that are no longer deserts. That luxury is fast disappearing. We are told that about 70 percent of the water used for irrigation is wasted. The time will come when we will begin to think differently about wasting water while depriving people of that liquid gold. On the other hand, people have to be fed, and water plays a huge role in growing food. We need electrical power, and water plays a huge rule in that. Water transportation is not the least of these needs. Needs, needs, needs...there are so many!

As Journal readers know from last week's issue, water (or lack of it) is again at issue on the Missouri. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) attached a Missouri River amendment to Senate Appropriations Bill S. 2804 to "raise the navigation preclude level on Missouri River reservoirs from 31 million acre feet (maf.) to 40 maf." It is said that if Burns' provision is ultimately successful, navigation would terminate on the Missouri River in 2005 as reservoirs already stand at 36.1 maf. due to ongoing drought conditions.

Obviously, not every one agrees with Burns.

"The Corps just spent 14 years studying this and has determined 31 maf. [as opposed to 40 maf.] to be favorable," said one industry spokesman.

According to information from the National Waterways Conference, "Not only would navigation be impacted, but non-navigation flows could reduce spring (March and April) and fall (September, October and November) releases to 9,000 cubic feet per second (cfs.) and summer (May-August) releases to 18,000 cfs. (a level that is approximately 10,000 to 12,000 cfs. less than minimum navigation flows)-levels that would adversely impact municipal water suppliers and utilities.

Low water on the Missouri is also bad news for the Mississippi River, which during dry years receives some 60 percent of its water (past St. Louis) from the Missouri. The current runoff forecast for 2004 is 16.2 maf., compared to the normal of 25.2 maf. So the revised master manual dictates that the navigation be shortened by 47 days.

Already the Coast Guard is advising Mississippi River mariners to operate at the slowest safe speed to minimize impact to fleeting areas. They expect the river to continue to fall. The River Industry Action Committee has recommended that barges be limited to no more than 101/2 feet. and heavier barges be moved through the system before the St. Louis gauge falls to zero.

Back on the Missouri, last year was the first in 40 years when Big Sioux Terminal in Iowa did not receive any barges. Usually the terminal received up to 150 barges and loaded about 100. Those numbers have fallen off after the drought of the 1980s and the current drought, said Big Sioux's general manager Kevin Knepper. The revenue of a Kansas City firm has been reduced to half.

It is not our intention to sound the gloom and doom alarm. However, with fresh water sources around the world, including our own, showing alarming decreases, it might be wise to consider what lies ahead if Missouri water continues to be scarce. The Missouri and its operational procedures are already not meeting transportation needs. What will be cut off next?

It is not outside the realm of possibility to face the challenge of a priority overhaul as we struggle to make the best use of available water? The hard, cold facts are that there will either be enough water...or there won't.

Is the well running dry?