Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were in Alton Friday as part of their annual low-water inspection.
The Corps has stepped up emergency scouring and dredging operations in response to the unprecedented low water levels in the Mississippi River Basin.
Marty Hettle works for the barge operator, AEP. He says the river forecast is not expected to trend upward any time soon.
"Memphis right now, the 28 day forecast has it going to -9.7, that will be the lowest its been since the record drought of 1988. But we still see the river able to handle the commodities in barges to be able to transport."
Approximately 60-percent of the river that flows by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis actually comes from the Missouri River.
That flow is maintained by scheduled releases from upstream reservoirs...those releases typically end later in the year, at which point the river is expected to drop even farther.
