High water levels on the Mississippi River impact boat sales | News
High water levels on the Mississippi River this summer have led to a notable impact on the boat sales industry.
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WXOW) – High water levels on the Mississippi River this summer have led to a notable impact on the boat sales industry.
Typically the river levels are higher in the spring due to all the snow melt. However having a nearly 15 foot river stage in the middle of the summer is not something that was expected.
“It hurts right now because people can’t launch and go”, says Steve Tucker, owner of Powerhouse Marine. “People want to boat but the river needs to be safe. People are real anxious to use their boats. It does hurt business here because they don’t need anything when they don’t go out.”
Despite seeing nothing but negative impacts, Tucker was able find a silver lining in it all.
“You get caught up on some of the not as important projects. It gives you time to reorganize and get some things in place but it would be better to be busy now and do that in the winter.”
The high water levels have also affected the broader aquatic recreation industry, which includes fishing, paddleboard rentals, and canoe and kayak rentals.
“You buy product months and months in advance so kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, bait and tackle”, says Scott Gartner, owner of Island Outdoors. “You buy that stuff months in advance and its shipped in so when no one can use it or no one is on the river you’re stuck and just got to come up with whatever you can to try and pay it off.”
The river stage is expected do go back back down in the coming weeks.
Have a story idea? Let us know here
Watch more on WXOW wherever you are
There are plenty of ways to get the latest content from WXOW. You can find us on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms so you can watch us anytime! Enjoy livestreaming newscasts or replays of our latest news along with some of our signature content such as the Jefferson Awards plus the latest weather and local sports.
Find WXOW on Roku here or by searching for WXOW in the Roku Channel Store.
Find WXOW for Fire TV here or searching for WXOW in the Amazon App Store.
Add the WXOW app for Apple TV through the Apple App Store.
Use this link to find out more about all the WXOW apps available.
This article was originally published by a www.wxow.com
Read it HERE
