As low water level conditions on the Mississippi River persist, the USACE has started barging fresh river water to Plaquemines Parish, La., water treatment facilities. This water can be mixed with water at the intake to dilute salinity content to levels safe for water treatment.
The intrusion of salt water into the river is a naturally occurring phenomenon because the bottom of the riverbed between Natchez, Miss., and the Gulf of Mexico is below sea level. Denser salt water moves upriver along...