Plaquemines Parishes has begun receiving fresh water barges. Although the process is similar to the Algiers process, there will be differences. I obtained announcements and video on X (formerly Twitter) by following Corps of Engineers New Orleans@USACENOLA. Very informative.
Tonight’s meeting with S&WB and NOLAReady again stressed there was no need to hoard bottled drinking water but no mention of bulk water for pets, cleaning, teeth brushing, face washing, and cooking. We use more than bottled water in our daily lives. So make sure you think of all purposes for which you use water including fish ponds as well as plants.
Big picture, the sills which were built in 2022 slow down the saltwater intrusion but cannot stop it. The water has overtopped the present sills but they are now building up the wing wall to mitigate this.
The answer for Algiers will not be a pipeline such as the one needed for the east bank. The Algiers intake is much lower and more similar to Plaquemines and Gretna. These areas will receive barged in fresh water to dilute the water in our system. Algiers should be in good shape.
How these three areas differ–Algiers’ solution will be to build a cofferdam around the water intake the pump the fresh water into the damn where it will be shepherded into the treatment water, dilute the salinity, and eventually reach our homes.
Good news: Nov and Dec with the El Niño effect will be wetter
Bad news: River will remain low until Jan. Cofferdam may take a month at most and is still in the bid process.