In the middle of the ever-narrowing Mississippi River, a barge tows a huge metal-sided suction head along the riverbed to remove sediment from the channel.

The crew of the Hurley Skip Dredge has been working around the clock for months to deepen the river so boats and barges can pass through.

“We’ve been working almost non-stop since last fall from New Orleans to St. Louis, Missouri,” said Captain Adrian Pirani, standing on the bridge.

For the second year in a row, water levels in North America’s largest river have fallen to record lows due to a prolonged drought. Locals say they’ve never seen it this bad.

From the Great Lakes in the north to Louisiana in the south, the majestic Mississippi River has been transformed.

Factories have taken over the newly exposed riverbanks and seawater is pouring in from the Gulf of Mexico. Farmers who depend on the river to transport their products are frustrated as they watch the traffic jam.

Authorities are doing what they can to make sure the river stays navigable, and that’s where the Hurley, a dredge operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, comes into play.

The dredge is currently on its third excavation at the same site near Memphis, Tennessee. The dredge scrapes and sucks silt from the bottom of the river and sprays it onto the riverbank.

Pirani said he works long hours, starting with “making sure commerce doesn’t stop.”

But the job is closer to home.

He told AFP, “I come from a family of farmers on the other side of the river. So this is personal …… for me. I will do everything I can to keep the river flowing.

Unusable stops

For farmers across a wide swath of the U.S. Midwest, the Mississippi River is an integral part of their transportation network.

But drought has narrowed and shallowed the river, limiting transportation capacity.

The bottleneck came at a bad time: in early fall, farmers were busy harvesting soybeans and corn. With limited inland waterway capacity, they had to scramble to dispose of large backlogs of stock.

Impact on Communities

The drought has also had a significant impact on communities along the Mississippi River.

In Memphis, for example, the city’s riverfront is a popular tourist attraction with restaurants, stores, and entertainment venues. But business is struggling because water levels are so low that many marinas are unusable.

“It’s been a tough year,” said one restaurateur.” Our sales are down about 20 percent.

The drought has also put pressure on drinking water, irrigation water and industrial water.

Hope for the future

Despite the challenges, there is hope for the future.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is developing a long-term plan to improve the navigability of the Mississippi River. Weather forecasters predict the drought will eventually end.

But for now, the raging Mississippi River is struggling for survival.