re: Power Plant at ORCS Will cripple Mississippi River eventually

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There is a rock shelf just north of the Old Bridge (Hwy 190) which is why ships cannot go further upriver. It traps sand there which is why you see dredges mining sand there all of the time.

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Shhhhhhh


Huey P put that rock shelf there

Great book

Or 300 years

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Mudberg is a sediment plug in the river that reduces the Mississippi’s discharge to the Gulf (about 23% less when above flood stage)

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FTR, I'm gonna call this claim bullshite.

Just because there's a new lump of mud in the middle of the river does not mean less water gets discharged to the Gulf.

If there's 1 Million gallons of water before the lump, there's still gonna be 1 Million gallons of water after the lump... now it may have spread wider or rose higher to get around the lump... but it *is* gonna get around it and continue to make it's way to the Gulf.

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My bad. When you say power plant i think of a boiler.

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I get that. You just missed the hydroelectric part.

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Isn’t the bridge too low?

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The bridge is low because there was no need of it being higher.

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I’m trying to understand his beef with flooding the batture which is what’s left of the natural floodplain

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He must own batture land

Nothing is gonna cripple the Mississippi. The water is gonna eventually go the way of wherever it deems its natural course. We can try to control it all we want but the Old Man is gonna do what he wishes.


Damn Morgan Freeman needs to read that aloud.

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The CoE could undo the damage by dredging where the sediment is building.

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If they were authorized and had the funds allocated by congress to dredge the channel.

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No, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) does not have unilateral decision-making authority. Dredge projects are governed by congressional funding, state and federal environmental regulations, and local partnerships.The USACE's decision-making power is heavily constrained by several critical factors:

Congressional Authorization & Appropriations: The USACE cannot simply initiate a large dredging project at will. They generally require two separate acts of Congress—one to authorize the feasibility study and another to authorize construction. Furthermore, Congress must explicitly appropriate the funds for every phase of the project.

Budgetary Constraints: USACE operations are bound by strict budget limitations dictated by Congress and the President's budget. Because there is not enough money to maintain every single federal navigation project, the USACE routinely has to defer maintenance on lower-priority waterways in consultation with regional stakeholders.

Environmental Regulations: Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, USACE dredge projects must comply with specific environmental guidelines. They also frequently need water quality certifications from state environmental agencies, and must adhere to strict environmental impact statements (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). If a state or a federal agency (like the EPA) objects to a project's disposal methods or environmental impact, USACE may have to withdraw its record of decision and pursue alternatives.

Local Project Sponsors: For most federal navigation and ecosystem restoration projects, the USACE operates in a partnership with local public entities. Non-federal sponsors are typically required to provide lands, easements, and contribute to project costs, which gives local stakeholders a significant voice in how a project is scoped and executed.

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