Mississippi River mayors warn AI, fuel costs and drought are straining key waterway

Tugboat pushing a barge upstream on the Mississippi River at West Memphis, Arkansas. (Ron Buskirk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)(WASHINGTON) -- Mayors from Minnesota to Louisiana traveled to Washington earlier this month with a bipartisan message that protecting the Mississippi River is not just an environmental issue, it is a matter of national security.The mayors met with lawmakers and federal officials, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, as part of their annual Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative fly-in, and later spoke with ABC News about growing pressures facing the river corridor.Stretching more than 2,300 miles through 10 states, the Mississippi River forms the backbone of one of the most important economic corridors in America. According to data shared by the mayors