Southeast Louisiana’s Drinking Water At Risk – Saltwater Intrusion

Just days after President Biden issued an order for emergency aid to Louisiana, residents are tracking salt water as it makes its way ever closer to their faucets. Saltwater intrusion is creeping its way up the Mississippi River and threatening drinking water. This scenario signals another crisis for a state on the front lines of climate change. A summer of unprecedented heat and drought created conditions where the river is lower than normal. That in turn allows salt water to infiltrate fresh water systems and potentially cause a safe drinking water crisis in the state. During this past summer, close to two-thousand people in Plaquemines Parish (an area about an hour away from New Orleans) were relying on bottled water because saltwater made its way into the drinking water. Now, much more of the state is on alert about water safety.

At points there were fears that water safety would have been jeopardized by the latest government shutdown drama. Funding for the water emergency was seat apart from the budget issues being debated. Now, both the Army Corps of Engineers and Federal Emergency Management Agency are working on the crisis, offering assurance to the public speaking of having more time to help with the issue. FEMA’s Federal Coordinating Officer, Benjamin Abbott said, “We’re encouraged by the progress in mitigating saltwater intrusion and the extended timeline for increased impacts. We are working with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) to ensure that Louisiana residents have safe drinking water and that water delivery systems will remain online.” According to the Army Corps, the salt water is still moving further upriver. The timing for it to possibly reach Orleans, St. Bernard and Jefferson parishes is mid to late October.

This Is Not A New Issue In Louisiana

Concerns about saltwater intrusion are not new to Southeast Louisiana. According to the Louisiana State Department of Natural Resources website, “Ancient oceans left vast deposits of salt across all Louisiana, including huge salt domes south and west of Baton Rouge. As these domes deteriorated, salt mixed naturally with local groundwater sources to create saltwater aquifers.” Barriers around the salt domes are porous barriers, which means that when water levels drop, there is greater risk of saltwater intrusion. The use of groundwater pumping, a necessity in the low-lying state, adds to the issue. This alongside coastal erosion and the long-term impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have made this a crisis in the making for years. A 2007 study from the United States Geological Survey, identified saltwater intrusion as one of the long-term impacts of that particular hurricane. Flooding and hurricane force winds contributed to increased saltwater in marslands and other freshwater systems.

Because the Gulf South and particularly Louisiana, are prone to hurricanes, projects and studies focused about salination are also ongoing. What has not taken place is a multi-hazard assessment of drinking water safety in the state. This isn’t just a Louisiana issue, drinking systems in many other parts of the United States are also at risk.

Threats To Water Supply Is An Increasing Risk In The U.S.

Water crises in a number of American cities, like Jackson, Mississippi, Flint, Michigan, parts of Baltimore, New York City and the state of Hawaii have made headlines. The range of causes are everything from lead contamination to the aforementioned saltwater intrusion. While this is a global issue, the United States is one of the most affected countries. Saltwater intrusion occurs in over 40 states. Water supplies along the Eastern seaboard and states in the southeast are most at risk.

This Is A Harbinger Of A Climate-Impacted Present

While saltwater intrusion has always been a looming concern for Louisianians, this situation was accelerated by climate change. Historic, or rather abnormal heat in the region led to drought conditions. That then led to the Mississippi River being at extremely low levels, which allows for saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico to reach drinking water systems. It’s a domino effect of climate impacts in a low-lying coastal state at high risk for any or all of these hazards. The problem is not an isolated or even state-by-state issue, it is an observation of how governments will deal with a climate impacted future.