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water that comes from that river,? said Muench. From St. Louis, Mo. to Cairo, Ill. the Mississippi is largely fed by  ow from the Missouri River. The Corp provides  ow from the Missouri basin reservoir into the Mississippi from April 1 to December 1. ?On a normal year, I?ve typically seen estimates that 20% to 30% of the water going past the arch in St. Louis is from the Missouri River.? This year however, ?almost 70% of the water going past the arch is coming out of the Missouri.? ?Without the Missouri River release this year the St. Louis harbor would be closed, cutting off the lower Mississippi from the upper portion of the river and from the Illinois River. The area from St. Louis to Cairo would also be closed; a section relied upon by major agricultural producers. There are also a lot of petroleum and chemical producers that travel the Illinois, into and out of the Chicago area, that would be impacted,? said Muench. But even the current release from the Missouri River does not support full- service navigation on the Mississippi and so far the Corp has been unwilling to release more. Ironically, the Missouri River is managed by the Northwestern division of the Corp, based in Portland, Ore. ?We have asked that the Missouri River release more water,? Muench said. She believes the Corp is obliged to release enough water to support full-service navigation on the Mississippi, but ?the Corp says they are not.? ?The Corp is still telling us that they cannot and will not release water for Mississippi River navigation even though the President clearly stated that they should be. That?s part of the President?s promise to increase exports.? What?s more, said Muench, ?there were  ve or six lawsuits combined into a 2005 court case that said navigation and  ood control are the two primary purposes of the Missouri River system and water should be released for ?downstream navigation.?? The question is, does ?downstream? include what we call the lower Mississippi? Even more disconcerting than the refusal to release more water is the prospect of what happens if the river levels do not recover enough to maintain safe navigation after the  ow cutoff date in December. ?We?re really, very concerned about Dec 1,? said Muench. Only time will tell what water levels do this winter and if the Corp?s Northwest division decides to release water beyond the traditional cut off. As light loading and infrastructure woes continue, ?All I can say is that luckily today it?s raining here in St. Louis,? Muench said, ?but we need a 48 MNNovember 2012MNNov2012 Layout 32-49.indd 48MNNov2012 Layout 32-49.indd 4811/6/2012 3:20:08 PM11/6/2012 3:20:08 PM