NATCHEZ, Miss. — Mayors from the 10 states along the Mississippi River, including East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sid Edwards, convened in Natchez, Mississippi, for an annual meeting on Wednesday, with this year’s meeting dedicated to preserving the river’s water supplies in each state, as well as addressing the infrastructure demands of the growing AI industry.

The mayors identified solutions that are important to the municipalities along the 2,000-mile Mississippi River Corridor, Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said Wednesday during the convocation of officials.

The mayors are looking to grow the Mississippi River corridor’s AI economy responsibly, such as addressing the transmission, grid and freshwater demands that new digital infrastructure like data centers will need as they continue to expand.

MRCTI Co-Chair Melissa Logan, mayor of Blythville, Arkansas, says the corridor and more than 100 mayors in the consortium need to be focused on what’s happening around the world with the evolution of time and technology. Over 75 cities along the corridor have been approached to house data centers, Logan said.

Part of the consideration with this influx of prospective data centers means assessing the risks of AI data centers as well. Logan said that water security issues are becoming more and more apparent due to increasingly frequent droughts and intense hot periods.

Mayors also continued work on a Mississippi River Compact, an interstate agreement aimed at expanding a mass water export ban across the corridor to protect the river’s water supply in the 10 states the river touches.

“Water is not simply an environmental resource,” Gibson said, noting it is the driver of the economy, culture and quality of life for the hundreds of communities that live along the corridor.

The blueprint of the prospective Mississippi River Compact, Logan said, was set by Missouri’s legislation that created a similar infrastructure to protect Missouri’s stretch of the Mississippi. According to Missouri’s law, passed in 2025, anyone exporting bulk water out of the state must secure a permit from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

This is the first legislation of its kind, she noted. Three more states, including Louisiana, are developing their own laws.
According to Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman, if seven of the 10 states passed legislation for protecting the water supply of the river, the issue can be brought to Congress.

“It’s needed now more than ever,” Hoffman said.

The meeting also coincided with the groundbreaking on a new American Cruise Lines dock in Natchez.