Plaquemines Parish

Coastal Desk

As saltwater flows up the Mississippi River for a third year, the region looks for permanent solutions

Eva Tesfaye

A salty river is a public health crisis, contaminating drinking water for thousands in southeast Louisiana.

A water tower in Boothville, in Plaquemines Parish, where residents didn't have safe drinking water for more than three months due to saltwater intrusion.

Coastal Desk

As salt water threat recedes for most, residents downriver feel forgotten

Halle Parker

For more than three months, residents in south Plaquemines Parish didn’t have safe drinking water. The cause? Intruding salt water from the Gulf of Mexico.

Orange groves at Ben & Ben Becnel, Inc. are seen along the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, La. on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023.

Coastal Desk

Latest saltwater wedge forecast brings more good news

Aubri Juhasz

St. Bernard Parish is no longer expected to be affected by the saltwater wedge moving up the Mississippi River, joining its upriver neighbors.

In this aerial photo, dredging operations to build an underwater sill are seen in Plaquemines Parish, La., Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. A salt water wedge slowly moving upriver from the Gulf of Mexico, due to the unusually low water level in the river, may threaten municipal water supplies, potentially even New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Coastal Desk

Saltwater wedge moving slower than projected; unlikely to reach New Orleans until late November

Halle Parker

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ latest projections, released Thursday, the “saltwater wedge” isn’t forecast to reach New Orleans’ west bank until late November — a month later than earlier projections suggested.

Coastal Desk

Louisiana citrus farmers are seeing a mass influx of salt water that could threaten seedlings

The Associated Press

Citrus farmers in the southeast corner of Louisiana are scrambling to protect and save their crops from salt water, which for months has polluted the fresh water they use for irrigation.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Cullen Jones, who commands the New Orleans District, provides an update on his office's measures to address a "saltwater wedge" moving up a historically low Mississippi River during a news conference on Sept. 15, 2023.

Coastal Desk

Salt water threatens South Louisiana drinking water second year in a row amid severe drought

Halle Parker

As the Mississippi River drops to one of its lowest levels in recent history, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said salt water from the Gulf of Mexico could threaten drinking water as far north as New Orleans’ French Quarter if no action is taken.

Excavators roll over newly built land on Louisiana's Spanish Pass restoration site in 2022, attempting to reverse some of the land loss in Barataria Bay.

Coastal Desk

Levees, oil wells biggest causes of Barataria Basin land loss: study

Mark Schleifstein, Times-Picayune/The Advocate

A new study of the dramatic loss of wetlands in the Barataria Basin south of New Orleans during the last 130 years concludes that the two main causes have been construction of levees along the Mississippi River and subsidence due to oil and gas activity.But the study also contains potential good news: There may be enough sediment in the river to rebuild coastal land, disputing earlier estimates.

A newly-formed cut in the east bank of Plaquemines Parish known as Neptune Pass has begun diverted huge amounts of Mississippi River water. Recent research suggests it's also a rare site of new land-building on Louisiana's coast.

Coastal Desk

New Mississippi River channel is actually building land on disappearing coast, research says

Halle Parker

A contentious channel formed off the Mississippi River has begun to build new land off Plaquemines Parish’s east bank, according to research published Tuesday.

An aerial view of broken wetlands in Plaquemines Parish. Projections by Climate Central indicate that the parish could lose another 100,000 acres of wetlands by the end of the century.

Coastal Desk

Army Corps greenlights Louisiana’s $2.2 billion sediment diversion to combat land loss

Halle Parker

In a historic decision, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed off on Louisiana’s $2.2 billion plan to divert muddy Mississippi River water into Plaquemines Parish’s degraded wetlands to rebuild land on Monday.

A graphic rendering of Venture Global's planned Plaquemines LNG facility, under construction on Plaquemines Parish's west bank south of the Myrtle Grove community.

Coastal Desk

Environmental groups sue Louisiana over permitting of $13.2B LNG plant, fear of flooding

Halle Parker

Several environmental groups are suing Louisiana over its 2019 decision to allow a 630-acre liquefied natural gas plant to move forward in Plaquemines Parish without a key coastal permit.