2019 Mississippi River

[ZoomZoom]

I understand that the people of Morgan City would be screwed, but why would New Orleans and Houma be forced to evacuate, and then why would thy have three weeks?

No drinking water for starters, salt water would take away their source.

[CajunRebel]

Is there no aquifer in the area that can be tapped?

[cajundiehard]

Could you or someone please repost the video with Dr. Xu? I can’t find it...

This is all very interesting and cool to think about in a purely hypothetical and non-real world, and I hope I never see it happen. I have a few questions for Helmut from the video with Dr. Xu. I have never been strong in science.

1. The basic idea is that there would be a sand build up south of the Old River Control Structure, causing a clog, which allows the water to rise over the ORCS into Outflow channel and eventually the Atchafalaya?

2. When the water does divert to the Atchafalaya, what happens to the freshwater that is already in the river between the OCRS clog and the Gulf? It eventually will be inundated with salt water coming up from the Gulf of Mexico?

3. I understand that the people of Morgan City would be screwed, but why would New Orleans and Houma be forced to evacuate, and then why would thy have three weeks?

[HelmutVII]

This is all very interesting and cool to think about in a purely hypothetical and non-real world, and I hope I never see it happen. I have a few questions for Helmut from the video with Dr. Xu. I have never been strong in science.

1. The basic idea is that there would be a sand build up south of the Old River Control Structure, causing a clog, which allows the water to rise over the ORCS into Outflow channel and eventually the Atchafalaya?

1. The majority of the silt load is at the bottom of the channel. The water taken from the Mississippi River at the ORCS is from the top of the stream flow. Silt is kept in suspension at velocities of greater than 2 feet per second (Self cleansing velocity). Velocity at the top of the stream is greater than the bottom because of fiction with the earthen channel and as you get closer to the gulf of Mexico salt water ( salt water is heavier than fresh water. the fresh water stays on the top of the stream flow). Given that the salt water is there it slows down the water below self cleansing and the silt load drops causing the formation of sand bars. The diversion of water into the Atchafalaya is about 30% of the Mississippi but it is decant water (water from the top with a lighter silt load). So, more silt is sent through to Baton Rouge/ new Orleans than is sent do the Atchafalaya. The silt diversion is not 30% and is very difficult to predict as discussed by Professor Einstein. There is a certain amount of silt diverted as evidenced by the two mini deltas formed at the Wax Lake outlet and Atchafalaya river delta. see below.

[HelmutVII]

This is all very interesting and cool to think about in a purely hypothetical and non-real world, and I hope I never see it happen. I have a few questions for Helmut from the video with Dr. Xu. I have never been strong in science.


2. When the water does divert to the Atchafalaya, what happens to the freshwater that is already in the river between the OCRS clog and the Gulf? It eventually will be inundated with salt water coming up from the Gulf of Mexico?

I would suspect that there probably would still be some fresh water but it would be scavenged for use. There would not be enough to stop salt water intrusion from Gulf.

[HelmutVII]

This is all very interesting and cool to think about in a purely hypothetical and non-real world, and I hope I never see it happen. I have a few questions for Helmut from the video with Dr. Xu. I have never been strong in science.


3. I understand that the people of Morgan City would be screwed, but why would New Orleans and Houma be forced to evacuate, and then why would thy have three weeks?

No fresh water to drink. The water plants in New Orleans and surrounding areas use Mississippi river as their source water. They are not designed to treat salt water. Salt (NaCl) dissociates into Sodium ions and Chloride ions and cannot be removed by the methods used to purify the river water. They would need to totally rebuild their water plants to some form of ion exchange process or reverse osmosis that would be very expensive and take a tremendous amount of time to implement. I would think that most everybody would get pretty thirsty before they could finish. Not to mention meeting the various health standards that are required to be met.

[HelmutVII]

Is there no aquifer in the area that can be tapped?

Yes but they connect to the Gulf of Mexico and are either salt water or brackish.

[HelmutVII]

Could you or someone please repost the video with Dr. Xu? I can’t find it...

this might work

https://biggerpieforum.org/environme...afalaya-river/

[HelmutVII]

Is there no aquifer in the area that can be tapped?

The number one indication of an advance civilization is the ample supply of drinking water. (think ancient Greece and Roman empire)

The number two indication of an advanced civilization is the adequate disposal of waste water. (if you every go to a third world country one of the first things you smell is the unmistakable aroma of sewage. it sometimes can gag a maggot). Contaminated water and insects and other critters are the most common vector for disease. Malaria, dengue fever, Cholora are examples.

[Ragin4U]

Lack of potable water is a problem for a lot of the world. It's just never been an issue for modern US except for isolated instances. This would be a huge problem for the lower Mississippi.
It seems like these issues are not getting a lot of attention. Is there a technical/engineering way to mitigate the situation? Improve the ORCS, maybe?

[CajunJeaux]

Helmut...think there’s any chance they shut down I-10 or Hwy 190??

[HelmutVII]

Helmut...think there’s any chance they shut down I-10 or Hwy 190??

Not for opening the few bays of Morganza.