Trempealeau lockages off 19%. From 10-year average. Only 6 million tons on 1,500 barges in 2024 lock-throughs. Image: Steve Lunde
Downstream dam a Winona economy indicator
TREMPEALEAU, Wis. — Everybody knows that floods and drought resulting from global warming have hurt commercial traffic on the Mississippi River, but how badly? New data from the Army Corps of Engineers, which controls navigation, said lockage around the Trempealeau dam in 2024 fell roughly 19% below the 10-year average. Data from the Trempealeau dam-keepers, downstream from Winona, provides a useful look at the river’s evolving role in the Winona economy. The good news, although not too sunny: The 2024 lockages were up slightly from 2023 although with far less tonnage.
> 2024: Commercial lock-throughs totaled 1,526 with 4,330 barges and 8.6 million tons of cargo.
> Ten-year average: 1,883 lock-throughs.
> 2023: 1,534 lock-throughs and 7.9 million tons.
The lock also handles recreation vessels, usually as many as can fit into the lock at a time. There were 924 such small-boat groupings in 2024.
Why fewer barges
In releasing the data, the Corps sidestepped the issue of global warming per the Trump administration’s revised orders to government agencies, including the Army Corps, never to mention the phenomenon nor even to use the term. The Corps, however, made this note in releasing the new data: “Navigation statistics fluctuate from year to year, depending on the weather, river flows and the length of the navigation season.”