Threat to river shipping

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and the barge industry are imploring the federal government to take steps to keep enough water flowing on the drought-ridden Missouri and Mississippi rivers to avert a potential "economic disaster."

Nixon sent a letter Friday to the Army's assistant secretary urging the Army Corps of Engineers to continue providing sufficient water flow from the Missouri to the Mississippi River. Current corps plans would reduce the amount of water released from the Missouri's upstream reservoirs starting next week.

"I urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to avert potential economic disaster on this vital avenue American farmers use to get their goods into the world market," Nixon wrote to Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant secretary of the Army.