Mississippi water threatened by drought

It is a mythical river that runs through America’s veins. A national treasure and major trade route. But the watershed suffers. Perry Whittaker has been coming here since childhood. He said he had never seen the river in this condition. “It used to be about once a decade to hike here. But now two years in a row it’s been very low.”. 75% of the state of Missouri is currently experiencing drought conditions, which is already having an economic impact that can be seen on boats transporting grain, coal or oil every day.

Increase in salt is threatening

The crisis in Mississippi cost nearly 20 billion euros last year. The Mississippi crosses 10 states and stretches nearly 4,000 km. The situation is most alarming in southern Louisiana. Here, the river is not strong enough to withstand the onslaught of the ocean. Salt inevitably rises in the Mississippi, corroding the water needed for irrigation and rendering it unfit for consumption.

Joe Biden declared a state of emergency. A massive logistical operation led by the US Army began. Millions of liters of water are transported in gigantic barges. The equivalent of 100 million 1-liter bottles of water was collected in a few weeks. An underwater earthen tank was also constructed to prevent intrusion of salt water.