BATON ROUGE, La. — Governor John Bel Edwards has submitted a request to President Joseph Biden for a Federal Emergency Declaration as a result of recent saltwater intrusion in the lower Mississippi River region.
The amount of fresh water flowing down the Mississippi River has been low due to prolonged drought conditions in Louisiana and throughout the Mississippi River Valley. As a result of these historically low flow conditions, an intrusion of saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico is making its way upriver.
According to the Office of the Governor, Plaquemines Parish has already been affected by the intrusion, and other parishes are expected to be affected over the next month, including St. Bernard Parish, Jefferson Parish and Orleans Parish.
In some areas, the increased salinity from the saltwater intrusion is expected to exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) maximum contaminant level of 250 mg/L, impacting public water systems and posing a risk of corrosion to water distribution systems, machinery and appliances, officials report.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) conducted river surveys and determined that on September 20, 2023, the saltwater wedge overtopped an underwater sill at river mile marker 63.8 near Alliance. Authorities say the sill is currently undergoing upgrades that will improve the rate of saltwater intrusion. The underwater sill is a temporary protective measure constructed under the authority of the USACE to mitigate the intrusion.
Once approved, the Federal Emergency Declaration will provide federal assistance to reimburse ongoing response and temporary mitigation efforts. It will also authorize assistance from other federal partners.
Read Governor Edwards’ letter to President Biden here.
