Reprieve for New Orleans as salt water creeping up the Mississippi River slows its march inland
By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Salt water inching up the Mississippi River is progressing more slowly than once projected — buying time for water systems in metropolitan New Orleans that draw drinking water from the river. Officials said at a news conference in New Orleans on Thursday that an underwater sill downriver has helped impede the flow of heavy salt water crawling upriver. River flow forecasts are also better than expected. It means intakes in New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish won’t see the arrival until late November, instead of later this month. For smaller communities farther downriver, efforts continue to barge large amounts of fresh water to water system intakes.
