South of New Orleans, the Mississippi River is very low and is projected to drop lower by the end of July, posing a second year of threats to local public water supplies from saltwater moving up from the Gulf of Mexico.
The leading edge of saltwater is estimated to already have crept up near Port Sulphur. The Army Corps of Engineers kicked off efforts to block it from reaching the water intakes of public water supplies in Belle Chasse and Chalmette.
Saltwater has reached the intakes of Plaquemines Parish's Boothville water plant, driving up amounts of sodium and chloride - the minerals making salt - in water going to homes and businesses in the southern part of the parish's west bank.
That contamination prompted parish officials to issue a boil-water advisory on June 21 to residents - living between Empire Bridge and Venice - who may be on dialysis or low-sodium diets and subject to sodium and chloride restrictions.
The water plant at Pointe a la Hache has not been affected by the intrusion, said parish spokesperson Shannta Carter, but Inframark is attempting to locate a "reverse osmosis unit" that can remove salinity from water and installed at the Boothville plant. (NOLA.com 07/01/23) Low Mississippi River again threatens local water supplies | Environment | nola.com
UPDATE: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency for Plaquemines Parish on July 6 because of the contamination threat to its water supply by a wedge of saltwater moving up the Mississippi River. Saltwater wedge prompts state of emergency in Plaquemines | Environment | nola.com
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