NEW ORLEANS - A very snowy winter up north, and an already higher than normal Mississippi River is cause for Army Corps officials to keep a close eye on water levels in New Orleans.
Bobby Dupuy built a river camp near the Orleans -- Jefferson Parish line in the mid 1990's and in the last few months, he's noticed the Mississippi water level near the camp has remained higher than normal.
"Hopefully it goes down a little more before it comes up in May, because in May it'll be up around 16 feet, and they're probably gonna open the spillway is what it looks like, because it's been high," Dupuy said.
Moving into the high river season, opening the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway is a possibility, though it's still too early to tell.
In the spring of 2008, Army Corps officials opened the gates at the spillway to ease pressure on the river levees in New Orleans and points south.
The biggest threat always comes during the spring months, officials say, as northern snow melts, and the rainy season begins.
Mike Stack with the Army Corps says officials are on guard because of an above average winter for snow in some of the northern states.
"The snow pack that we see, we monitor it, we monitor the melt patterns, you know, how fast it's melting. A hard rain on top of the snow pack would melt it fast, and combined with rain, that would be one of the big events we would be watching for," Stack said.
Officials say the river at New Orleans is just below 11 feet currently.
It's not an alarming level, but it's typically lower this time of year, which leaves more room for the standard rise each spring.
"The biggest concern is, we haven't gotten the real low stages we're accustomed to seeing in a normal year," Stack said. “Usually in the fall and into the winter, we get a low water season. The river falls, and we get the low elevations for the year, and what we've seen is an elevated river, basically, you know, from the fall through the winter and into now."
It's something Coast Guard officials are keeping an eye on too, as the high water can cause navigation problems.
"The higher the water, generally speaking, the more hazardous the conditions, the more accidents, etcetera," said Lt. Cmdr. Marty Daniels. "Essentially you've got more water, more velocity, and just, you know, more hazardous conditions."
