Tagged: Army Corps of Engineers

Fishermen in the Henderson area said their hoop nets were falling victim to alligator overpopulation. The gators were finding easy prey in the fishermen's catch.

U.S. Sen. David Vitter says that after Henderson Mayor Sherbin Collette explained the problem at a July town hall meeting in St. Martin Parish, he asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to check.

He says the corps found too many gators on some of its land and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries increased the number that could be killed there next year.

Plaquemines Parish officials say they're prepared to use barges to supply fresh water to processing plants in Port Sulphur, Dalcour and Pointe-a-la-Hache if necessary.

The parish gets its water from the Mississippi River, but that source of water is being threatened by the intrusion of salt water from the Gulf of Mexico due to low river levels.

Besides using barges to ship in fresh water, the parish says it may rely on freshwater piped in from neighboring parishes.

Louisiana has so far avoided disastrous drought conditions declared in nearly half the counties in the United States. But southeast Louisiana is starting to feel the effects of a lower Mississippi River.

The Army Corps of Engineers says it will construct an underwater sill in the Mississippi River to stop salt water from threatening drinking water supplies in the New Orleans area.

The move is needed because water levels in the drought-stricken Mississippi have gotten so low that the river is nearly at sea level and this is allowing salt water from the Gulf of Mexico to move far inland.

At the latest check on Monday, salt water was on the outskirts of New Orleans.

The Army Corps of Engineers plans a public meeting Tuesday on measures it is taking to mitigate the impact of wildlife habitat as construction continues on a levee and flood protection system in Plaquemines, Jefferson and St. Charles parishes.

The presentation and discussion are set for 6:30 p.m. at the Ernest Tassin Senior Center on Fourth Street in Westwego.