FORT SMITH, Ark.—Flows on the Arkansas River are forecast to drop to the point where the Army Corps of Engineers will be able to lift a small-craft advisory on at least part of the waterway.

Like last year, barge traffic has been limited in the Arkansas River navigation system because of the speed and volume of water.

Freight traffic slows and sometimes stops when flows reach 140,000 to 150,000 cubic feet per second because tow boats have trouble with the current. Marty Shell, a partner in Five Rivers Distribution, which operates an Arkansas River port facility in Van Buren and recently became the operator at the Port of Fort Smith, said the company lost $500,000 in business last year because of the heavy flows. Shell said some customers had to use other ports or other modes of transportation to get around the high water.

The system experienced a 19 percent drop to a total of 5.09 million tons from 6.31 million in the first six months of 2007, according to the corps’ Little Rock and Tulsa districts.