2011 Mississippi River Spring Floods

[NewsCopy]

Two more gates on Louisiana ’s Morganza floodway were opened today to ... “They sacrificed Morgan City to save Baton Rouge and New Orleans ,” said Leslie Delaney, 46 of Lafayette, as he pulled a boat out of the Atchafalaya in Butte La Rose

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[NewsCopy]

NEW ORLEANS – All along the swollen Mississippi River, hundreds of thousands of lives depend on a small army of engineers, deputies and even prison inmates keeping round-the-clock watch at the many floodwalls and earthen levees holding the water back ...

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[Bandwagon King]

_ All things being equal, we would still have high water, but probably not as high.

The water would be spread out over a larger area in the upper reaches of the Mississippi basin lowering the water surface. The lower water surface would result in less slope of the water surface. Less slope of the water surface would result in a slower velocity of the water. If there is still the same volume of water to move at a slower velocity, then the higher water would last a longer time. _

It looks like the system is working pretty well down here. I still think they should dredge the Atchafalaya below the Intracoastal Canal & Bayou Shane & levee it off to the bay. Maybe make it go out like a horn from South of the Intracoastal. the silt build up could be used to rebuild South Marsh Island in front of the horn for hurricane protection. The Only salt water intrusion would occur inside the river levees & would be controlled, not allowing vegetation to die.

[NewsCopy]

Long ago, we were told we were not wanted and forced to move to another area. Disease and death took their toll during travel to an unknown area of Louisiana. We all know the rest of the story. I am very proud to be the results of those who settled in with ...

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[NewsCopy]

The Mississippi River flooding currently underway throughout the South and Midwest has already caused millions of dollars in damage, and now some of the region's businesses are facing their worst fear: the closure of the river to traffic. The Coast Guard ...

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[NewsCopy]

That choice angers John Muse , who drove from Lafayette to Melville to help his 86-year-old ... A spillway at the 7,000-foot Bonnet Carre structure in Louisiana also has been opened. It seemed animals didn't want to be stuck anywhere: Deer, hogs and ...

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[biged05]

_ Ed -

I know this is a long question, and you can give me the dime store response. But, I was wondering how much our flooding problems are exacerbated by levees in the northern states. For instance, I know that ND will occasionally flood, and MO, but it seems like we pay the price for them staying dry. Is it possible for there to be more "controlled flooding" along the river as opposed to us having to deal with the majority in LA?

Thanks. _

Helmut and Cajunred are right. Everything will come this way anyway. A quote from our Col. that I like was "If it a drop of rain falls in New York it passes here, if it a drop of rain falls in Montana, it passes here." This is how I think of it. The system is designed to pass as much water to the Gulf as fast as possible. Let's say you put more retention basins like New Madrid, and the Atch. Basin up north. All that will do will hold the water up there longer. Keep in mind how long it takes for the water to get down here. Now lets say the Valley gets the rain that's causing this flood, and we store some of that water somewhere up there. Then there's a break in the weather and about a month later a few bad systems go through the valley again. Even more rain! The storage areas start to get full and the Rivers are still full. And the this happens 2 or 3 times in a row. Now you have rain water stored up north that could have been passed down the river, and more keeps coming and there's no where for it to go. Now that has the potential to cause one hell of a problem!!
The other thing to think of is the economics. The land in the basin was paid for by the Gov. for this purpose then given back to the people to do what they wanted, but with the understanding that this could happen. No telling how much that would cost today, not to mention all the fights you'd have to deal with about where to put it and people not wanting to give up their land.

[NewsCopy]

Long ago, we were told we were not wanted and forced to move to another area. Disease and death took their toll during travel to an unknown area of Louisiana. We all know the rest of the story. I am very proud to be the results of those who settled in with ...

The rest of the story

[CajunDreDog]

15 gates now open at Morganza!!!

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/lat...-Spillway.html

[LsuULfan]

Appreciate all of the informaiton being shared-very interesting.

Have 2 book recommendations

-Rising Tide-about the 1927 flood-which I read a few years ago and is a very good read. Imagine a lot of people have read this.

-a lesser known book-Designing the Bayous: The Control of Water in the Atchafalaya Basin, 1800-1995 (Gulf Coast Books, sponsored by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)-Available on Amazon.com-I'm about 1/2 through it-Gives a very good history of all of this, competing interests, plans, politics, etc.

[biged05]

I've read rising tide...I'll add the other to my list to read

igeaux.mobi

[Bandwagon King]

_ Helmut and Cajunred are right. Everything will come this way anyway. A quote from our Col. that I like was "If it a drop of rain falls in New York it passes here, if it a drop of rain falls in Montana, it passes here." This is how I think of it. The system is designed to pass as much water to the Gulf as fast as possible. Let's say you put more retention basins like New Madrid, and the Atch. Basin up north. All that will do will hold the water up there longer. Keep in mind how long it takes for the water to get down here. Now lets say the Valley gets the rain that's causing this flood, and we store some of that water somewhere up there. Then there's a break in the weather and about a month later a few bad systems go through the valley again. Even more rain! The storage areas start to get full and the Rivers are still full. And the this happens 2 or 3 times in a row. Now you have rain water stored up north that could have been passed down the river, and more keeps coming and there's no where for it to go. Now that has the potential to cause one hell of a problem!!
The other thing to think of is the economics. The land in the basin was paid for by the Gov. for this purpose then given back to the people to do what they wanted, but with the understanding that this could happen. No telling how much that would cost today, not to mention all the fights you'd have to deal with about where to put it and people not wanting to give up their land. _

I wonder when this is all over if it would be possible to meet with someone in the corps & possibly talk about design changes in the way the Mississippi & the Atchafalaya dump into the GOM. I believe there are ways to not only make the gulf more eco- friendly with the lowlands, but to turn the coastal erosion into coastal restoration with a minimum of financing. BTW, has anyone you guys know, ever studied the effects of closing off Bayou Lafourche from the river on coastal erosion in Louisiana? I believe this has been a major reason for the SE coastlines of La. being eaten away over the past 40 years especially.