How the 2012 -2013 Drought Can Affect Us
Culturally I believe because we have all become so accustomed to going to a tap in a sink we turn it on and there it is beautiful drinkable water. We don’t put much thought into how long we shower or just how much water we are consuming. You turn on the tap and there it is, water. For the most part, since the industrial revolution not many people in the United States have been without some form of drinkable tap water or a clean water source available. As a result we don’t end up seeing how that since water levels in Illinois are at its tenth worst since 1901 how this will affect our economy as a whole. While we have all been enjoying little to no snowfall this winter this too adds to the plight of the badly needed precipitation needed to increase our overall water tables.
Illinois' average annual rainfall varies by only a few inches from north to south. The average is around 36 to 38 inches in the northern half of the state, while the southern portion of Illinois can see anywhere from 40 to 48 inches annually. Currently, the rainfall is about 30.37” which is a drastic change and greatly impacts farming and the flow of goods along the mighty Mississippi River.
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Photo by Rober Ray/AP
According to NBC News, “about $180 billion worth of goods move up and down the river on barges, 500 million tons of the basic ingredients for much of the U.S. economy, according to the American Waterways Operators, a trade group. It carries 60 percent of the nation’s grain, 22 percent of the oil and gas and 20 percent of the coal, according to American Waterways Operators. It would take 60 trailer trucks to carry the cargo in just one barge, 144 18-wheeler tankers to carry the oil and gas in one petroleum barge.” (1) Take note how many trailer trucks it would take to move the same goods via truck. It is staggering and we don’t have the vehicles nor the manpower to actually accomplish moving the goods moved by barges on the Mississippi River.
Also, about half of the spring fertilizer that the industry sells to Midwestern farmers travels upriver and options to get the fertilizer to the fields by other means are few. “We know the rail cars aren’t there,” according to Kathy Mathers, a spokeswoman for the Fertilizer Institute. (2)
Illinois' average annual rainfall varies by only a few inches from north to south. The average is around 36 to 38 inches in the northern half of the state, while the southern portion of Illinois can see anywhere from 40 to 48 inches annually.
If annual average precipitation does not start to return we should all expect to see higher prices for foods, gasoline, housing goods, and other basic goods. Illinois farmers were already hard hit by the drought with below normal grain productions if the Army Core of engineers cannot keep the mighty Mississippi open the badly needed fertilizer needed to start this year’s crops could be stalled.
In the day of so many package goods and everything being so accessible I feel we take for granted how we are impacted and are at the mercy of “nature” and how important it is to preserve. The most precious commodity on this earth is water.
2. New York Times Nov. 26, 2012 “After Drought, Reducing Water Flow Could Hurt Mississippi River Transport”