GRETNA, La. — On Thursday, the Gretna City Council adopted an emergency ordinance.
Gretna Mayor, Belinda Constant, said it's a 'necessary' step that enables the City to get funding from the parish and state to mitigate the effects of the saltwater intrusion. As the saltwater creeps upstream towards Gretna, business owners are also preparing.
Dough Nguyener's Bakery Owner, Betty Archote, said it's been one of the restaurant's first speedbumps since opening in March.
“It’s going to be tough. I think it’s going to be tough for everybody," Archote said.
Archote said the restaurant has already spent thousands of dollars on a water filtration system.
“We’re going to talk to the company that did that to see if it can filter out the salt, but we don’t know," Archote said.
Archote said they'll be forced to rely on bottled water for recipes and sanitation if the machine doesn't filter out the salt.
“Ice is a big issue," Archote said.
Not to mention, Archote has concerns about how the saltwater will impact the building and its pipes.
“This is a brand-new building and we’re kind of like scared of what’s going to happen if this really does affect the City of Gretna," Archote said.
Mayor Constant said Gretna's demand of water is much less than what other municipalities are facing.
“Because of the City’s size, our demand is much less than the entirety of Jefferson Parish. We withdraw 4 million gallons per day, which is something that’s a little more manageable, and we have options, and we’re looking at all those options," Constant said.
Those options include requesting a barge of fresh water and a reverse osmosis machine specifically for Gretna's water intake facility, Constant said.
“We’re looking at costs for both options. We’re hopeful though that we can have a redundancy plan in place so that if one system should fail, we have a backup opportunity," Constant said.
Water tank trucks will be on standby, Constant said.
Gretna also requested bottled water that can be distributed to the city's most vulnerable, Constant said.
Gretna Councilman, Rudy Smith, said those vulnerable populations can reach out to the City or their council person about requesting bottled water.
“We have a master plan, and I think that with the help from the parish, we’re in pretty good shape for anything that could happen going forward," Smith said.
The City is still figuring out the price tag of the solutions, and Mayor Constant said they hope to have contracts signed by the end of next week at the latest.
Meanwhile, Archote hopes their costs don't skyrocket as they consider moving to disposable containers and bottled water.
“Your food costs are probably going to go up tremendously because, you know, yes, bottled water and all that stuff costs more money," Archote said.
The Army Corps of Engineers estimates the saltwater will reach Gretna's water intake around October 24th.
Text WATER to 504-529-4444 for the latest updates on the saltwater intrusion emergency.
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