2019 Mississippi River

[HelmutVII]

So how do we send more water down one half of a river than we send down the other half? Seems like a good trick.

The Bonnet Carre Spillway discharges water from the EAST bank of the river through Lake Ponctchartrain to the EAST to Mississippi. Apparently the decision was made that was to place to construct the spillway to protect the grater New Orleans area flooding. From a land building standpoint I think the best place would have been on the west bank of the river just east of St. Charles and discharge to the gulf through Lake Salvador. That is a little bit further downstream from the current location of the Bonnet Carre.

[CharlieK]

The Bonnet Carre Spillway discharges water from the EAST bank of the river through Lake Ponctchartrain to the EAST to Mississippi. Apparently the decision was made that was to place to construct the spillway to protect the grater New Orleans area flooding. From a land building standpoint I think the best place would have been on the west bank of the river just east of St. Charles and discharge to the gulf through Lake Salvador. That is a little bit further downstream from the current location of the Bonnet Carre.

Oh I get that. I was being a smartass. You can't send more water down one half of a river. You CAN discharge that water (at least in the case of the Mississippi) from various man made spots on both sides of the river into other river/bodies of water/drainage basins. I imagine he wants them to discharge into the Atchafalaya basin via morganza and old river sooner and at greater amounts versus via Bonnet Carre....at least that's what I'm guessing he meant. Does protection of one particular fishery over the other enter into the equation of when/where to discharge?

[HelmutVII]

Oh I get that. I was being a smartass. You can't send more water down one half of a river. You CAN discharge that water (at least in the case of the Mississippi) from various man made spots on both sides of the river into other river/bodies of water/drainage basins. I imagine he wants them to discharge into the Atchafalaya basin via morganza and old river sooner and at greater amounts versus via Bonnet Carre....at least that's what I'm guessing he meant. Does protection of one particular fishery over the other enter into the equation of when/where to discharge?

The number one criteria for deciding whether or not to open up a spillway is if keeping the spillways closed will cause damage to the levees along the river. If the levees are damaged then we will have a serious problem on our hands.

[CharlieK]

The number one criteria for deciding whether or not to open up a spillway is if keeping the spillways closed will cause damage to the levees along the river. If the levees are damaged then we will have a serious problem on our hands.

That is what I have always understood. Those decisions are made by the Corps of Engineers, not the state, and I don't think the fisheries enter much into their thinking either way.

[billbeck451]

its all to protect the ____hole called New Orleans just like the new protection levees that dump storm surge onto Mississippi and flood out areas like Pearlington every time a storm comes north. Areas of south Mississippi that had rarely flooded over time now have water for even small storms due to the protection levees that divert water to the east to keep it out of New Orleans

[CajunJeaux]

its all to protect the ____hole called New Orleans just like the new protection levees that dump storm surge onto Mississippi and flood out areas like Pearlington every time a storm comes north. Areas of south Mississippi that had rarely flooded over time now have water for even small storms due to the protection levees that divert water to the east to keep it out of New Orleans

So are you saying you’d rather the Saints get flooded out of State and Pearlington, MS be sitting dry?!?....j/j...this is a great thread, very knowledgeable

[billbeck451]

its just not Pearlington that higher tidal surges since the new protection levees went up but all along the western Mississippi coast, its pretty simple math, if you take a volume of water and direct in into an area half of what it usually flows the levels will be higher meaning areas that had flooded once or twice in 60 yrs now flood regularly

[ZoomZoom]

I’m no expert for sure, but if/when nature takes over the Mississippi, where would the new port city end up according to the experts?

[cajun4life]

I’m no expert for sure, but if/when nature takes over the Mississippi, where would the new port city end up according to the experts?

Baton Rouge, just through the Atchafalaya. Or everything will shift to the Port of Houston. There is literally 200 ships awaiting to go to port in a Houston. At least triple the volume of what is anchored off of the Miss.

[HelmutVII]

I’m no expert for sure, but if/when nature takes over the Mississippi, where would the new port city end up according to the experts?

Franklin or huoma

[mahtoo]

Not on the current or "new" Atchafalaya but Lake Charles would be a possibility

[mahtoo]

As you are going down stream the western side of the Mississippi is to your right.

Yes. Terms frequently used to avoid confusion are "left descending bank" (LDB) and "right descending bank" (RDB). As you are going downstream (and you are facing downstream), the bank on your left is LDB and vice versa.