The New Orleans area is getting a little more time to prepare for the saltwater pushing its way up the Mississippi River, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday.
Corps officials say the denser salt water has been filling in a deep hole in the riverbed, slowing its progress. Corps workers have also been raising a sill, or underwater levee, to partially block the saltwater intrusion.
That sill cannot provide a complete block because the corps must leave enough room for maritime traffic to make it through. But officials say it is working to lower chloride levels on the upriver side of the sill.
The end result is that saltwater is now expected to reach area drinking water treatment facilities about a month later than projected.
Instead of October 22, the saltwater is forecast to reach the New Orleans Sewerage Water Board's Algiers treatment plant around November 23. It is expected to reach the Gretna water system's river intake by November 26, instead of October 25.
The saltwater would reach New Orleans' and East Jefferson's intakes in late November, if it gets that far upriver at all.
Work to build pipelines upriver for both water systems, and bring barges of freshwater to Gretna, Algiers, and water systems downriver, continues.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
