NEW ORLEANS — Plans to open the Morganza Spillway in Louisiana have been put off a second time because the Mississippi River continues to rise more slowly than expected.
Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Matt Roe said Monday that plans now call for the Morganza Spillway's opening to begin Sunday, a week after the original announced date. It already had been put off once, to Thursday.
Projections about the rising Mississippi River have changed as the forecast changed. National Weather Service hydrologist David Welch says the Mississippi River's crest is now expected to be about 6 inches lower than previously forecast.
The river is now expected to reach flood stage at the structure on June 12.
The corps has said it wants to open the Morganza Spillway only when it becomes necessary.
"The Army Corps of Engineers only intends to operate the structure when needed as to not put additional water into the Atchafalaya Basin," a statement from the Army Corps. of Engineers said.
The spillway's "slow open" will begin June 9 with a single bay being lifted. By June 12, all the bays will be open, according to the Corps. This will be the third time in its 65-year history that the spillway will be open.
Any opening this year would be the third time ever and the second time to control floodwaters.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.