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. Fears that it would reach New Orleans water intakes have abated amid improved forecasts, but officials in the area say the threat could return in years to come as climate change, sea level rise and dredging of the river for commercial traffic all could contribute to salt water intrusion.
By early October, water intakes at towns such as Boothville, Port Sulphur and Pointe a la Hache had been inundated. Authorities cite multiple factors for the salt water intrusion. Most prominent this year has been a drought across the Midwest that has meant less water flowing into the Mississippi and the rivers feeding it.
The lower, slower river flow and a deep, wide river channel set the stage for gulf water to push inland. New Orleans officials also were working on a plan to build an emergency pipeline. The hope was that much of the projected cost, as high as $250 million, would be covered by the federal government under a presidential emergency declaration issued in September.
Rising seas portend more problems. The sea level around New Orleans is rising at a rate of as much as 9 millimeters per year, or three feet each century, much higher than the global average and the highest rate measured in the United States, according to experts at NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services.
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