New Orleans could survive Hurricane Katrina, only to be hit with a second economic disaster...
As Hurricane Katrina stalks the historic city of New Orleans, and massive evacuations are ordered, my thoughts turn to an already-stressed structure located several hundred miles upstream of New Orleans at the distributary channel of the Atchafalaya with the Mississippi River. The Old River Control structure was built by the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent the Mississippi drainage from switching to the steeper Atchafalaya channel.…
Article comments
76 - DrPat
Nancy, the sublayer expansion as water comes into the basin and the river above it is only part of the subsidence-flooding issue. Another contribution to this problem comes from the lack of overbank sedimentation -- we constrain the river in its banks, for the most part, all the time, and so its sediment load is funneled out to sea.
It's also not a case of diverting the river; Old River Control is the Corps' effort to prevent the water from taking its natural course. If anything, we've been diverting the river for almost 60 years.
Finally, only some of the water that currently floods New Orleans came from the storm-dump into the immediate basin -- much of it was already there (Lake Pntchartrain) or delivered from upstream by the Mississippi. As I pointed out in the original article, this is a river that drains a sub-continent.
Ironically, if the Big Muddy had managed its desired diversion decades ago, the charming city on its (current) delta might still be pretty much intact in physical terms post-Katrina.
77 - DrPat
Linda, I was not able to find a map, but the following comes from an Army Corps of Engineers report on their reevaluation of the Atchafalaya Basin to the 1994 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill (PL 103-126), dated October 28, 1993:
78 - Luschen
I finished the first section of the book The Control of Nature. What a great book, very well written and told from the viewpoints of all those affected. One interesting section was talking about the lone tugboat which acted as a picket to protect the control structure from runaway barges. Apparently if one of those barges gets caught against the inlets of the structure, it could stay there awhile until the water gets low enough that they can pull it out. Well that got me thinking - could a terrorist sabotage the Old River Control by hijacking a tugboat carrying a full load (15 or 20) barges during the spring high levels and running them against the inlets of the control structure? Sort of a 9-11 except with barges instead of airplanes. If they could get enough of them stuck, it sounds like the differential between the Mississippi and the Atchafalaya could go way above the 25 foot "safety point" and there would be a good chance the structure would fail. They would probably have plenty of time to evacuate Morgan City and everything else downstream, but the economic toll would be catastrophic. With Baton Rouge and New Orleans high and dry, Louisiana would be devastated economically. Hopefully there are some smart people in Homeland defense who have prepared for some kind of plan like this. Maybe they have more defenses now than a lone picket tug. Also, could they save the Old River Control by opening up the new Auxilliary Control all the way to keep the differential lower? One thing that is clear and somewhat comforting is that even if 99% of the public has never even heard of it, the Old River Control is probably the biggest single focus of the Army Corps of Engineers.
79 - Lew Fite
No one in the national media talks about or airs anything about Old River Control. Dr.Pat, your#67 says a lot. All media focus is on rebuilding NO and making the levees "stronger". One mention was made about rebuilding the barrier islands. One mention was made about subsidence from Houston to the Gulf. No one talks about the river delta, sediment deposits, and the sub-continent-draining river as an ecosystem. At least not in the national media. No one in the national media is informing the American Public about the river changing it's course -- WHY NOT???
80 - DrPat
Luschen: Yes, Old River Control is vulnerable to terrorism. However, I doubt a terrorist would target it, simply because it is an occluded system. There's no glamor in doing what Nature can do so much more effectively (as in Katrina's devastation).
And terrorists are all about drama, after all...
81 - DrPat
Lew: I suspect the Corps of Engineers has so much invested in Old River Control that they simply cannot acknowledge that they could lose their 60-year battle with the river.
They're also about to get a massive infusion of capital, based on the faulty premise that New Orleans drowned because Corps funds were cut. (They weren't cut so much as diverted.)
So this is a non-issue for the media. There's no drama in river diversion, not when there are pictures of floating corpses and refugee crowds to air. (And I apologize for the juxtaposition of "no drama" for terrorists and the media, it just arose spontaneously from the dialogue.)
When the river wins, of course, the diversion and subsequent devastation will be a big story, and there'll be lots of finger-pointing. But right now, it's a non-story.
82 - Pamela Elaine Lockridge, ADN
I am wondering what the status from the rita storm is of Bayou Sorrell and Bayou Pigeon near the Atchafalaya Basin. If any one knows please blog back to me. Thanks!!
83 - DrPat
I haven't seen anything specific for the coastal waterways or for Rita impact on the Atchafalaya Basin.
84 - Lew Fite
Re: The "Industrial Canal" and flooding of the Ninth Ward. Is the Industrial Canal necessary for flood control or as the name implies is it a convenient shortcut to the river? Does it create an additional and/or unnecessary risk to the Ninth Ward? Everyone seems hell bent on restoration to the status quo ready for the next inevitable disister.
85 - DrPat
Lew, the Corps of Engineers calls the Industrial Canal "a vital link in the nation's inland waterway navigation system." The canal is not just a "short-cut" -- it is part of a network that connects the Mississippi, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and Lake Pontchartrain.
However, we all should understand that just because the Industrial Canal failed this time, it doesn't mean that the problem doesn't extend to other levee-restricted waterways in the Mississippi Basin. These canals and rivers are all elevated, constrained artificially within their banks, and present a danger of future flooding to low-lying parts of New Orleans like the Ninth Ward.
86 - Lew Fite
Thank you Dr.Pat. Stellar responses always! Is there any "group" getting together to plan the rebuilding and restoration that will have a comprehensive approach. One that will be inclusive of the ecology needs of the river and hurricane/flood risk mitigation. I am reasonably sure there are few organizations with the expertise of the river possessed by the US Army Corps of Engineers. They must however have political direction and funding. The question is what will that direction be? What will we leave to our children?
87 - phil
well written article
88 - Lew Fite
Well...! CNN is claiming that the decision has been made to rebuild the Ninth Ward. Does anyone believe that is a good idea? Do insurance companies want to take a bath again? Will taxpayers stand for this? Where is the big picture here and what is that picture? I apologize if I am out of line here but I see no serious national debate going on about these issues -- Nothing in the mainstream media!
89 - Lew Fite
There is commom sense out there...!
Time for a Tough Question: Why Rebuild? By Klaus Jacob
Tuesday, September 6, 2005; Page A25 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090501034.html
Don't Refloat - The case against rebuilding the sunken city of New Orleans. By Jack Shafer http://slate.msn.com/id/2125810/
90 - Mike Sarda
Would it not make sense to fund the project the move the massive mississippi and use the water to irrigate the dry lannds of texas and New Mexico. This way the wanter flow is in control and would help increase the water table of state of texas. This will also help with agri and recreational activites and help state of new mexico.
91 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
This article, and the comments that follow make for fantastic reading. It follows a disaster as it happens, after an intelligent analysis of the problems facing a city as the disaster threatens. New Orleans is a city that is beneath the level of the river that gave it life - the river that appears have taken that life away.
92 - louise
Great Websit to learn lots, you could get rid of some of the imformation up above though, say you could have maybe 10 or 12 something like that but definetly not 50 or however many you have!
many thanks
louise matthews