Confluences Of Rivers, Interests, Issues
This week’s issue focuses on the Missouri River, which provides anywhere from 45 percent of Mississippi River flows during normal times to as much as 70 percent during drought periods when Upper Mississippi flows are low.
It joins the Mississippi River at the Confluence Area, just below where the Illinois River also joins. In fact, the strength of the Mississippi River system comes from confluences and convergences culminating in the Port of New Orleans. As the geographers will tell you, almost all the rivers in North America flow in the “right direction” to foster trade and communication.
Confluence means joining, and joining has been a theme for the whole river industry. Smaller riverports and terminals have increasingly amplified their visibility and voices by joining together in groups like the Corn Belt Ports (where the National Waterways Conference met August 25 to 27 in Moline, Ill.), the Central Ohio River Business Association (CORBA), the Missouri River Coalition, the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative and Inland Rivers, Ports and Terminals (IRPT).
Joining can happen at many levels — between and among ports, and also between federal agencies and local partners, like the recently signed deal between the Port of Corpus Christi and the Maritime Administration to explore the potential of small modular nuclear reactors for maritime applications.
The issues that drive our industry are increasingly interconnected, and the responses to them require confluence as well. Every issue is connected with every other one, like a river system, whether upstream or downstream. The old days of separate “silos” of concern, with one region of the rivers not having to think about other river systems, or the rest of the maritime world, are long gone.
Like the rivers themselves, our industry is stronger when we come together, creating a confluence of ideas and efforts that can help us meet the challenges ahead and seize the opportunities they present.
