That is because the Gulf Coast region is a “hotspot” of subsidence, the experts said, meaning land is sinking even as the sea level rises. The sea level around New Orleans is rising at a rate of as much as one third of an inch 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. Many homes built before the 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act have either lead pipes or lead solder in the plumbing systems.Įxacerbating problems posed by a diminished river flow is sea level rise. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, homes built before 1986 are more likely to have lead pipes. It's especially a problem in older systems, like the one in New Orleans, that still have lead pipes in some areas.Īccording to the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans, the majority of water mains in the city center were installed prior to 1940. In addition to being unsafe to consume, salt water poses another health threat in that it can corrode pipes. Joseph Kanter used a familiar Gulf Coast analogy, likening the changed projection to a tropical storm altering its course in the Gulf. 5, meaning water systems in the greater New Orleans area that draw drinking water from the river have additional weeks to prepare. Salt water inching up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico is progressing more slowly than projected, authorities said Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. In this aerial photo, sediment and mixed river water is seen as a tanker ship moves upriver, Sept. In the immediate New Orleans metro area, people who had been told their systems would be threatened by late October saw projections pushed back to Nov. Bernard have gained another week or two to prepare. But communities such as Belle Chasse, Dalcourt and St. Salt water already has reached some Plaquemines Parish communities closer to the river's mouth - Boothville, Port Sulphur and Pointe a la Hache. “This updated projection is clearly a relief to all of us,” said Collin Arnold, New Orleans’ emergency director. Salt water that overtops the underwater sill is still lower in salinity than the water behind the sill toward the Gulf, Jones said. (MORE: Mississippi River Saltwater Intrusion Worries Citrus Farmers ) Jones cited two factors in the latest projections: an underwater sill downriver has succeeded in impeding the heavy salt water's flow upriver and weather and river forecasts, while still showing a continued drop in the river's usual downriver flow, are more optimistic. State, local and federal officials discussed the latest projections at a news conference at the Corps' New Orleans headquarters. But for the second year in a row, hot and dry weather has lowered the river, allowing a denser, heavier layer of salt water from the Gulf to push inland. Typically, the Mississippi’s flow is sufficient to prevent salt water from moving far upstream. Army Corps of Engineers' New Orleans District. Unexpected October or November rains could further delay and diminish the threat, said Col. For New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish, the threat to water system intakes was pushed back from late October to late November. Salt water inching up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico is progressing more slowly than projected, authorities said Thursday, meaning water systems in the greater New Orleans area that draw drinking water from the river have additional weeks to prepare.įor some small systems downriver, the projected arrival of salt water was pushed back to later this month. Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.
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