Lingering drought conditions have kept the Mississippi River at abnormally low levels and significantly weakened its flow, allowing salt water to creep in.
Stephen Murphy, an assistant professor at Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, estimated that close to 1 million people within the greater New Orleans metropolitan area could be affected if water levels in the Mississippi River remain low.
A tugboat navigates around a sandbar during low water levels on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and Reserve, La., on Sept. 14.have kept the Mississippi River at abnormally low levels and significantly weakened its flow, Murphy said, adding that the area’s unique topography has aggravated the situation.
“The river’s flow rate is no longer able to combat the saltwater wedge,” Murphy said. “On a typical day, it’s strong enough to keep the salt water at bay, but we’ve just seen a reduced volume of water coming this far south downriver.” This week, the Army Corps is expanding an underwater barrier that was first constructed in July to delay the saltwater intrusion upriver. The barrier, known as a sill, functions similarly to an underwater levee. Murphy said that if conditions remain dry, the sill will most likely be overtopped again.
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