“They are trying to flood us not by mother nature, but by manmade”, one resident, Joseph Guidry told News 10. The Army Corps of Engineers will most likely open the Morganza Spillway to divert water from the river into the Atchafalaya Basin.
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The Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans District commander says he’s confident the high Mississippi River will pass safely through Louisiana. This week, people living in floodways along the Mississippi River received their annual notice from the U.S. Corps of Engineers as a reminder that floodways could be opened if necessary. The opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway helps relieve pressure on New Orleans-area levees by making sure the water doesn’t flow faster than 1.25 million cubic feet per second through the city.
The opening of the Bonnet Carre will now begin at 10 a.m. Sunday.
It will be the eleventh time the spillway has been opened since the structure was completed in 1931.
The closures will become effective a half hour after sunset on the dates the spillways are opened.
“The corps has a detailed environmental monitoring plan in place that will assess water quality, dissolved oxygen, sedimentation, recreation, and natural resources such as the pallid sturgeon, both within the spillway as well as Lake Pontchartrain”, the announcement said. However, those exceptions may be revised in coming days as the river here is not expected to reach its 17-foot flood stage until Saturday.
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The corps warned users and grantees within the spillway to immediately remove any movable property and protect facilities and immovable property. Drones and other air systems are not allowed to be in flight during the opening, according to the Corps.
