26 THE CAAR COMMUNICATOR WATER deep channels are set for the ports between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana. Like all human-controlled waterways, there are checks and balances in place. The Mississippi River waterway has 28 locks and dams on it and seven locks within the feeder Illinois River. During high water issues on the Mississippi, traffic is diverted. For example, the Bonnet Carré Spillway north of New Orleans has been used eight times between 1931 and 2007. But to show how much things are beginning to change due to high water, it was used seven times between 2008 and 2020. Is the river changing? That’s what the researchers are trying to determine. Summary Unless you are the type of person who likes to skim ahead, you already know that too much and too little water within our major shipping waterways is causing delays affecting our agriculture industry—the “our” being anyone around the planet growing and raising goods through farming. Traversing waters has its own issues. There are pirates in the African and Middle Eastern regions, and Ukraine having to contend with the invading Russian forces in Europe. Even closer to home, low and high water levels along the St. Lawrence and Mississippi rivers are causing delays to our shipments to customers. These delays result in penalties coming into play, which means less money overall for farmers. Travelling along the Great Lakes and the Panama Canal is also causing delays due to water levels. Will it get any better? In the Panama Canal, a newer lock system can retain and reuse about 60 percent of the water used. The older lock system loses nearly all the water it uses. Engineered updates to the lock system need to be put in place. There is no simple or complex science available on evaporation’s effect on the Mississippi River and St. Lawrence Seaway. According to the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board, the major natural factors that affect the water levels—inflow from Lake Erie, precipitation, evaporation, runoff, and wind effects— cannot be controlled. Only 2.5 percent of Earth’s water is freshwater, the kind we need to slake our thirst with, and nearly all of that water is underground. Per data from Colorado State University, nearly half of the 204 freshwater basins in the US may not be able to meet the monthly water demand by 2071. On the plus side, Canada still has enough water for its population. Well, for now, anyway. Canada is not immune to climate change. Much of the Canadian north has been afflicted by drought. British Columbia has seen hotter temperatures, less snow accumulation, faster snowmelt, glacier loss, and even less rain. As the BC climate changes, it may see increased drought and water scarcity. A cargo ship carrying grain passes through one of the Panama Canal’s lift docks. valleyboi63/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc0MDI3