Changing of Mississippi flow down Atchafalaya could be solution for Basin issues

A change to the 70-30 ratio of water sent down the Atchafalaya River from the Mississippi River is one potential solution being considered by the Atchafalaya River Basin Restoration & Enhancement Task Force.
The task force, which was appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards, to tackle issues related to the Basin, met for its third meeting Tuesday at the Governmental & Emergency Operations Center in Morgan City. The task force will meet again in June and start writing its report in July and August. The final report will be completed in September.
At Tuesday’s meeting, one topic discussed as a potential solution was the change in flow of water at the Old River Control Structure. At that point in Simmsport, 30% of the Mississippi and Red rivers are diverted down the Atchafalaya River.
But how and with what frequency that is done is something that must be determined before any decisions can be made. Any adjustment to the change in the water flow must get federal approval, too.
Federal authorizations and support were two of the main issues that members said affect the Basin, along with sedimentation, hydrology, water quality, land loss and subsidence, among others.
The challenge for the task force is to come up with ideas for change without causing a “catastrophe,” task force member Morgan Crutcher said.
Before any more water is sent down the Atchafalaya River, however, task force member Chris Tauzin said there must be a way to get the water and sediment present at the southern portion of the Basin out.
Task force member and Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade said the state of Mississippi and many environmental groups want to shutter the Bonne Carré Spillway, a relief valve for the Mississippi River in high-water events, to stop the water from flowing into the Mississippi Sound and causing problems.
Instead of a 70-30 split, they would like a 50-50 split down the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers, Wade said.
“Here we are trying to come together trying to figure out a plan, but we need to be on guard about this,” Wade said.
Legal action is how these entities are trying to persuade change, according to Brad Inman of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“I can’t comment on how it’s going to play out,” he said.
Inman said that the Old River Control Structure is what these agencies want to change. However, the Morganza Spillway, a relief valve used rarely in Mississippi River high-water events that sends water down the Atchafalaya, realistically could play a big part in how it is handled, he said.
“I think everyone in the room probably realizes if you have a choice between those metropolitan areas and the Basin, you know where the water’s going to be, and it’s actually in the water control manual,” Inman said.
Tauzin later added: “For these other states to be thinking about putting 50-50, I wish they would put 50% of their money up.”
He said there isn’t money to use for maintenance in the Basin even though it carries 30% of the Mississippi River’s flow.
“If you’ve got 70% of the water going down there and 30% in the Basin, why aren’t we spending 30% of that money that we’re spending on that river in the Atchafalaya Basin?” Tauzin asked. “That’s the reason the Basin’s blocked up, and that’s the reason it’s going to stay blocked up because we’re not putting enough funding into the Basin to take care of the problems that we have. …
“Guess what? This is all about saving the Mississippi River, keeping the banks from falling in and keeping the amount of water going in,” he added.
Tauzin said at some point Baton Rouge and New Orleans will experience flooding.
“And the reason you’re going to flood is because the Atchafalaya River’s silted up beyond belief to where we can’t pass any more water down there, so now you’re going to have to take your water,” he said.
Sending more water down the Atchafalaya is not something that task force member Rudy Sparks, who represents landowners in the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway, said he wants to see.
“We’ve got enough water coming down this Basin now,” he said. “We just got to learn how to handle it. … The Atchafalaya River is no longer functional. It’s not efficient. It’s got too many bends in it. It silts in constantly. You’ve got a dredge out there all the time trying to dredge it.”
Tauzin said while addressing moving water that is trapped in the Basin out, they also need to consider how they will capture the sand from getting into the Basin where it clogs the region.
Morgan City Mayor Lee Dragna told the task force that a proactive approach, catching the sand farther north before it spreads throughout the Basin, would make it easier to manage and is less expensive.
He said something needs to be tried and there is no time to model because the sand is accumulating faster than it can be dredged. That is coupled with the fact that there isn’t funding for dredging adequately.
“This is a train wreck that is stacking on top of each other in epic proportions, and if you don’t stop the next train from hitting it, it’s only going to get way worse and real fast in a hurry,” Dragna said. “That’s why we’re seeing it the last five years. We’re fighting this, and it’s only going to get worse. The only way is to stop the problem.”
Sediment, Sparks said, should not be looked at as a foe.
“You got to look at a way to work with that sediment,” he said. “I know the rest of the state wants it, and that’s great, and to the extent we can get it there efficiently and cost effectively, that’s great, too.”
Sparks said that sediment needs to be better distributed to help forests and restore their health.