Business & Tech

River Expected to Crest

The Minnesota River is in the throes of the fourth bout of flooding in 12 months, a pattern which has disrupted businesses along the river and threatens the health of forests in the flood plain.

As of Tuesday, the Minnesota River was swollen to 703.26 feet above sea level, just a hair under its anticipated crest tomorrow. By now, it’s a familiar if tiresome routine at Port Cargill and other businesses along the river’s edge — all of which have been menaced by rising tides four times in the past year. 

 "This is very unusual," said Lisa Brickey, the warehouse manager for the Mosaic Company at the port. "I've been here since 1994 and we maybe get a flood every couple of years. This is unheard of and it's really getting kind of old."

 In the last 12 months the river flooded four times, according to a gauge kept by the Corps of Engineers: Once in October of 2010, again from March 2011 to May (the ninth highest flood on record) and two times in this month alone. The onslaught prompted a meeting with the Savage Fire Chief and concerned business owners, Brickey said, but generally there is little affected property owners can do.

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 Few are more vulnerable than Port Cargill, a major freight center in the region. River barges bring in salt and fertilizer from Louisiana and ship out grain to most of the continental U.S. When the river exceeds 702 feet above sea level, the port is forced to shut down.

 “The biggest problem is that we can’t load or unload barges when river is high. At one point in March when the water was really high we weren't able to even get rail in or out (because the floods covered the tracks)," Brickey said. “That made life a little bit interesting. “

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 When waters peaked between March and May, port officials had no choice but to wait it out, though they were able to truck some goods overland.  Nevertheless, Brickey counted their blessings: If a cold snap had not set in during late spring, the floods from melting snow would have been devastating, she said.

 Usually, the spring floods abate by summer. Not so in 2011, with soggy weather sweeping the area every few days.

 “It’s been going up and down for a while. We’ve stayed in wet pattern since last,” said Diane Cooper, a service hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. “We just keep getting periods of rain. The soils are absolutely saturated. All the marshes are saturated, so there is not much capacity for them to hold the water.”

 Standing water could also have consequences for the forest along the riverbanks, including those in parklands near Black Dog Road.  Black Dog Road remains closed. In 2010, there was even talk of closing it for good.

 Areas of the state park at nearby Fort Snelling have also been closed repeatedly this season due to flooding. High waters can be helpful to the forest habitat: Periodic flooding is necessary to replenish nutrients in the soil, said Linda Radimecky, a naturalist at Fort Snelling State Park.

 However, such a sustained deluge could cause some trees to die off and promote the growth of invasive species by distributing alien seeds over the Minnesota River Valley.

 “Most of the species we find growing along the rivers are pretty tolerant of flooding. They typically can withstand anywhere from 80 days to 30 of standing water during the growing season,” said Greg Russell, the central region forest manager with the Minnesota Department of natural Resources.

 Box elders, green ash, cottonwood and willow can survive months underwater. However, other species such as the silver maple, hackberry, birch and American Elm  will begin to suffocate if their roots are underwater for more than 30 days.

 “We’re getting darn close right now,” Russell said.  “The cool weather probably has helped. They aren’t real active in cool weather and it slows their rate of growth and slows down their need for oxygen.”

 Like the dock workers at Cargill, there is little the DNR can do to salvage the trees if flooding persists.

 “It’s been at least 15 years that we had flooding of this duration in the spring,” Russell said.

 The last wave of dieoffs occurred after an intense bout of flooding in fall of 1993.  So far, the forests seem to be holding on.

 “Right now they’re not looking real bad. If they do die, the leaves will wilt from the top down because they’re not getting oxygen,” Russell said. 

 

 


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