Drought. Sea level rise. Dredging for cargo ships. Those are just some of the complex factors blamed for an inland flow of salt water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Mississippi River. Salty water was a problem for months for low-population communities at Louisiana's southeastern tip.
FILE - In this aerial photo, sediment and mixed river water is seen as a tanker ship moves upriver, Sept. 26, 2023, in Plaquemines Parish, La. Salt water from the Gulf of Mexico has caused problems for water systems in Plaquemines Parish.
Plaquemines officials list a variety of measures to provide drinkable water to residents in the southeastern part of the parish, which juts into the gulf. Trucks of bottled water for drinking and barges full of fresh water to dilute the salt water before it goes into intakes are among the solutions.Plaisance and Marinovich are among residents who think remedial efforts began too late.
At Vicksburg, Mississippi, north of New Orleans, the river flowed at a rate about 50% slower and at a stage height about 95% lower than normal during late September and early October between 2013 and 2022, according to analysis of data from the U.S. Geological Survey.conditions. Rainfall amounts are down in the watershed of the Ohio River, which contributes half of the Mississippi’s flow reaching new Orleans.
Earlier in the fall, projections that the salt water would reach the New Orleans area by late October prompted residents to stock up on bottled water while public officials undertook emergency preparations as though there were a slowly approaching hurricane. Updated projections have negated the need for the measure. The more favorable river forecasts are a result of various factors, including the Corps’ construction of what amounts to an underwater dam in Plaquemines to impede salt water progress. Recent rains in western Louisiana also have been a factor.“If this is what we’re going to be facing every couple of years, we certainly want to make an investment in how to solve this problem,” Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said.
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