MORGANZA, La. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is making preparations to possibly open the Morganza Spillway as the Mississippi River continues to swell in Louisiana.
The federal agency sent out notice Wednesday night to local governments along the Morganza Floodway that the flood control structure could open as early as June 2.
"There's a likelihood that we would have to open Morganza, but it depends on the rain," Corps spokesperson Ricky Boyett told The Advocate Wednesday night.
Boyett told the newspaper that current river forecasts project the Mississippi River to overtop the Morganza Spillway in two weeks, rending the spillway unusable. Opening the structure allows the Army Corps to control the flow of water through it and across the Atchafalaya Basin.
WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge reports that Assumption Parish Emergency leaders have secured funding to sink a barge in Bayou Chene to prevent backwater flooding.
Officials with the Corps plan to meet Thursday to discuss updated forecasts as well as the possible decision to open the spillway.
Heavy rains have recently fallen across the Central Mississippi River Valley, causing saturated grounds in parts of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. Extended weather forecasts show this same area could see another five to seven inches of rain over the next five days, which would drain into the Mississippi River.
The added water will keep the Mississippi River levels very high for the foreseeable future,
Heavy rains have fallen across the Middle Mississippi River Valley, or across parts of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. The ground is very saturated across this part of the country, so any rain will just run off into the local rivers, including the Missouri and Mississippi. Extended weather forecasts show this same area could pick up an additional 5-7”+ of rain over the next 5 days. All of this additional water would also drain into the Mississippi River.
If the Morganza Spillway is opened, it would be the third time since it was completed in 1954. The spillway was most recently opened in 2011.
The Morganza Spillway opens when the Mississippi River reaches a speed of 1.5 million cubic-feet-per-second
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