Governor John Bel Edwards plans to ask the federal government to declare a state of emergency to help in the effort to keep saltwater from coming up the Mississippi River and impacting local drinking systems. Edwards says it’s already impacting lower Plaquemines Parish and he wants as many federal agencies involved.
“We’re applying best practices and lessons learned from the past, but we are also casting a wide net, looking for people who have experience in these sorts of emergencies,” said Edwards.
A lack of rainfall over the Mississippi River basin has led to a low Mississippi River, which is allowing saltwater to move upstream. If the saltwater gets into local water systems, it would make the water unsafe to drink, which has prompted many in the New Orleans area to rush and buy bottled water. But Edwards says there is no need.
“We are asking that the public remain informed through credible sources and avoid some of the ty[es and misinformation that we’ve already been hearing,” said Edwards.
Edwards says accurate information and updates about the saltwater intrusion can be found at emergency.la.gov.
The Army Corps of Engineers constructed an underwater sill in July, which acts as a levee, to slow the intrusion of saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico. Colonel Cullen Jones says on Sunday they started adding another 25 feet to that sill.
“And our expectation is that the performance of the augmented sill will delay the upriver progression of salt water by 10 to 15 days,” said Jones.
But Jones says without significant rain, the underwater still will be overtopped so they plan to transport 15 million gallons of fresh water by barge that can used by local water treatment plants.
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