{"id":20770,"date":"2023-09-28T16:45:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T16:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/?p=742190"},"modified":"2023-09-28T16:45:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T16:45:53","slug":"louisianas-drinking-water-supply-under-threat-as-gulf-saltwater-invades-mississippi-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2023\/09\/28\/louisianas-drinking-water-supply-under-threat-as-gulf-saltwater-invades-mississippi-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana\u2019s Drinking Water Supply Under Threat as Gulf Saltwater Invades Mississippi River"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"nav nav-tabs tabs tabs-entry\">\n<li class=\"active\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southcentral\/2023\/09\/28\/742190.htm\">Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southcentral\/2023\/09\/28\/742190.htm?comments\" rel=\"nofollow\">0 Comments<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"article-content clearfix\">\n<p>BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) \u2013 A mass inflow of salt water from the Gulf of Mexico creeping up the drought-stricken Mississippi River is threatening drinking water supplies in Louisiana, prompting Gov. John Bel Edwards to ask President Joe Biden for federal help.<\/p>\n<p>If Biden approves the request to declare an emergency, it would help Louisiana secure federal money and logistical assistance from partners such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"79\" data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>For the second year in a row, salt water from the Gulf of Mexico has moved further up the Mississippi to threaten drinking water in communities that rely on the river for fresh water, including New Orleans. Typically, the river`s mighty flow keeps mass amounts of salt water from reaching too far inland, but hot and dry conditions across the country this summer triggered drought that slowed the Mississippi\u2019s flow and lowered its water levels.<\/p>\n<p>For months, drinking water advisories have been issued for some communities in southeastern Louisiana, warning people the water is unsafe to drink, especially for people with kidney disease, high blood pressure, those on a low-sodium diet, infants and pregnant women.<\/p>\n<p>In parts of Plaquemines Parish, residents have relied on bottled water for drinking and cooking since June.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have had discussions with FEMA about the unique challenges we face with this event,\u201d Edwards said in a news release. \u201cWe are optimistic the President will approve our Federal Emergency Declaration, which will be crucial to help our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Edwards said 23,515 residents in Plaquemines Parish have been affected by the salt water, including those at a military base, a nursing home, 11 schools, a prison and citrus farms.<\/p>\n<p>Residents have reported skin irritations and damaged appliances, including water heaters and washing machines, from salt exposure.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext-2\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"162\" data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>The salt water is expected to reach other drinking water supplies further upriver \u2013 including Orleans, St. Bernard and Jefferson parishes \u2013 by mid-to-late October, Edwards said.<\/p>\n<p>Officials are addressing the issue in multiple ways, including raising the height of an underwater levee used to block or slow the salt water and bringing in 15 million gallons of fresh water to treatment facilities in impacted areas.<\/p>\n<div class=\"copyright-notice lite\">Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/div>\n<p class=\"tagtag\"> <span class=\"tagtag\">Topics<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/location\/louisiana\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Louisiana<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/location\/mississippi\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Mississippi<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll\" data-post=\"742190\">\n<div class=\"article-poll-vote\">\n<p>Was this article valuable?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-no\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! 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Please tell us what you liked about it.<\/p>\n<p> <textarea placeholder=\"Enter your feedback...\"><\/textarea> <button type=\"submit\" class=\"submit\" disabled>Submit<\/button> <button class=\"cancel\">No Thanks<\/button> <\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-more-articles\">\n<p class=\"thank-you-text\">Here are more articles you may enjoy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"subscribe-banner subscribe-banner-in-content-2\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h4>The most important insurance news,in your inbox every business day.<\/h4>\n<p>Get the insurance industry&#8217;s trusted newsletter<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article 0 Comments BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) \u2013 A mass inflow of salt water from the Gulf of Mexico creeping up the drought-stricken Mississippi River is threatening drinking water supplies in Louisiana, prompting Gov.&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[283,284,1,77,285],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20770\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}