A partial opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway “seems a certainty now,” Louisiana State Climatologist Jay Grymes said in emailed comments Thursday, as recent forecasts indicated a further rise in the level of the Mississippi River.
The opening, which is determined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, would likely begin next week, according to Grymes. He said that the question now is how long the spillway may need to divert river water into Lake Pontchartrain.
“When we look at how the rate of flow has been going up over the past three to five days, it’s probably going to get to that critical threshold,” Grymes said, meaning that a spillway opening is “very likely.”…