I went back down to the riverfront yesterday and found the water even lower than it had been on Tuesday. At -10.76 feet on the Memphis gauge, it was just over a tenth of a foot lower .
I mentioned in Tuesday's post that the low level is putting a lot of stress on the marina. Check out the bowed roof supports in these photos:
The marina is owned by its slip owners, sort of like a condo. I'm not part of the ownership since I just rent a rack for my kayak down there, and I guess I'm glad not to be on the hook for the damage that's happening to the structure right now. But on the other hand, I get a lot of enjoyment out of my use of the facility, and I hope the owners will be able to keep it in good repair. I don't think the slip owners are a particularly wealthy group--the wealthy houseboat and yacht owners around here keep their boats at Pickwick Lake--so it remains to be seen how they address the damage once this low-water period has run its course.
Just like on Tuesday, I had to use another dock to have access to the water, and even at this dock there was just barely enough water to float my boat. I did a quick depth-check with my paddle; the tip of the blade was probably an inch or two immersed in mud:
Meanwhile, not even the United States Coast Guard has a ramp that extends all the way down to the current water surface. The USCG buoy tender the Kankakee is usually parked in this spot, but right now it's having to take up residence elsewhere:
I got in my boat and paddled for 60 minutes. The low water level is causing all kinds of trouble for commercial vessels, but there's still plenty of water for paddling. Even at a record-low level, the Mississippi is still a very big river:
Yep... interesting times in the lower Mississippi River basin. Let's hope for some rain in the Midwest soon.
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