Two other floodways may have to be activated, corps says

The Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway may just be the first intentional levee breaching that is done to help recede the rising floodwaters along the Mississippi River, officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.

For one of the floodways, it may happen soon -- as quickly as Monday, Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh said in a news conference this week. Walsh is the president of the Mississippi River Commission and the corps' commander of the Mississippi Valley Division.

"The forecast is for 5 feet above the flood of record at Vicksburg, [Miss.]," Walsh said. "So we have talked about operating the floodways Bonnet Carre and Morganza."

The Bonnet Carre Spillway is a flood-control operation in the lower Mississippi Valley, in St. Charles Parish in Louisiana, about 12 miles west of New Orleans. It allows floodwaters from the Mississippi River to flow into Lake Pontchartrain and into the Gulf of Mexico.

The last time the Bonnet Carre Spillway was open was in 2008. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal also said that the Bonne Carre Spillway may have to open as early as Monday. Jindal also said that opening the Morganza is "now on the table." It has not opened since 1973.

Corps officials and Jindal took an aerial tour of the levee system between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, where the river is expected to crest at 47.5 feet, 13 feet above flood stage May 21.

The Morganza Spillway is a floodway in east-central Louisiana. It is intended to divert water from the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya Basin.

Walsh said in his briefing Tuesday that these floodways are less complex than the Birds Point floodway because they are operated manually with gates and will not require explosives.

smoyers@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address

Bonnet Carre Floodway, Louisiana

Morganza Floodway, Louisiana