WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2022) The US Army Corps of Engineers said it is constructing an underwater levee in the Mississippi River to block saltwater from the Gulf moving up the river and threatening freshwater treatment facilities in New Orleans.
"The Mississippi River's volume of water has fallen to a level that allows salt water to intrude upstream. Saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico moves upriver in a wedge shape that may stretch up approximately 20 miles from the bottom to the surface of the river," the Corps said in a press release. "To stop the salt water from moving upriver and reduce the risk to freshwater intakes, the New Orleans District began construction of an underwater barrier sill... to arrest the progression of saltwater intrusion."
The greatest risk associated with the saltwater intrusion, the release added, is the appearance of unsafe salinity levels at the intakes of municipal drinking water intakes in Plaquemines Parish. The sill is being created using sediment dredged from upstream, according to the release.
CNN earlier on Tuesday said the sill will be about 40-50 feet high underwater, constructed in a location where the water is approximately 90 feet deep.
Ricky Boyett, the public affairs chief for the New Orleans District, told the news outlet it will take another week of work until the temporary sill can be built high enough to block the saltwater intrusion.
And according to US News and World Report, Heath Jones, the Corp's emergency management director of its New Orleans office, said the project should cost about $10 million.
Work is slated to begin in three weeks and should take about 15 days to be completed. Jones said the sill will be built in 5-foot increments. If the saltwater is blocked at a height of 45 feet or below, construction will stop but if it reaches 45 feet, larger ships may have to unload at some of their cargo below New Orleans.
Officials in New Orleans said the salt already present in the river's lowest areas might affect the smell, taste and color of drinking water but does not pose a health threat to residents.
