Louisiana officials said Thursday that efforts to slow the push of salt water upstream in the Mississippi River are helping to buy additional weeks before drinking water supplies in and around New Orleans could be contaminated by the saltwater intrusion.
The New Orleans District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initially projected that salt water creeping inland from the Gulf of Mexico could reach water intake facilities in New Orleans later this month, but officials now say those projected timelines have improved, likely keeping the city in the clear until late November. Excess salinity in drinking water is dangerous for public health because it can cause elevated sodium levels in the body, which increases blood pressure. In a bid to delay the encroaching salt water, the Army Corps has been working to heighten an underwater barrier that was first constructed in July. Col. Cullen Jones of the Army Corps said Thursday that the underwater levee will act as a…