Ricky Boyett of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discusses the Corps' preparations for keeping water in southeast Louisiana parishes drinkable as the saltwater wedge moves upriver.
Boyett said we need about 10 inches of rain in the Mississippi River valley to get enough of a flow to push the wedge back out.
He said that once the salt wedge gets about 15 miles upriver of the water intake that's when there are concerns about impacts.
Currently only people in the southern half of Plaquemines Parish are affected and the wedge is slow moving, but it should reach the more populated areas like Belle Chasse, St. Bernard Parish, Algiers and then the city of New Orleans over the next month and a half or so.