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It will be interesting to see how this plays out. People have already started hoarding water a month in advance of the arrival of the "salt wedge"... The last t

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. People have already started hoarding water a month in advance of the arrival of the "salt wedge"... The last time this happened in New Orleans was 1988 and lasted ~2 months[1], life continued, and the event was largely forgotten. From a post on /r/neworleans: "In the last event sales of bottled water skyrocketed before the event. Once the salt wedge arrived, sales went down and everyone stopped buying water. Data suggested public didn't view the situation as sufficiently threatening enough to continue buying water." So it doesn't seem to be the 'emergency' that media is trying to make it out as... Seems like the larger issues are increased heavy metal contamination from the salt and silt relocation affecting the health of the delta and related ecosystems... The current plan is to ship in fresh water, which is what was done last time, and also there is talk about building a fresh water pipeline in the next 30 days that would extend ~12 miles up river. [2] [1] current estimate is that current the situation will last ~3 months [2] https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/saltwater-intrusion/construction-of-10-to-12-mile-pipeline-could-curb-saltwater-intrusions-impact-on-new-orleans/289-2b4024d1-63e8-467c-81b4-55cea17670e0 https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/saltwater-intrusion...

burkaman 3y ago
This comment reminds me a bit of people saying that Y2K must have been way overhyped because nothing bad actually happened. Ordinary people spent money stocking up on bottled water, the Army Corps of Engineers spent a ton of money and effort dredging the river and shipping in barges of fresh water. It wasn't a disaster, because people prepared relatively well, but having to mitigate a potential disaster is itself a pretty big problem. > it doesn't seem to be the 'emergency' that media is trying to make it out as I haven't seen any exaggerated coverage. If you're seeing the word "emergency" that's because the governor requested a state of emergency and the president approved it.
- kallistisoft 3y ago
  > This comment reminds me a bit of people saying that Y2K must have been way overhyped because nothing bad actually happened. You're comparing apples and oranges ... Y2K was a know problem, with known trigger conditions, and prescribed remediation steps. The salt water intrusion is a moving target whose remediation steps aren't clear cut. The most recent estimate has pushed back the timeline for potential water fouling back by over a month and the new estimate put the salt ppm at <250 which is below the EPA's public safety floor. > I haven't seen any exaggerated coverage. [...] That might be because you're not from the area and haven't seen the empty shelves of bottled water and the run on water filtering equipment
selimthegrim 3y ago
That Reddit thread also points out in 1988 more people were drinking non-water beverages, Coke, beer, etc.

burkaman 3y ago

This comment reminds me a bit of people saying that Y2K must have been way overhyped because nothing bad actually happened. Ordinary people spent money stocking up on bottled water, the Army Corps of Engineers spent a ton of money and effort dredging the river and shipping in barges of fresh water. It wasn't a disaster, because people prepared relatively well, but having to mitigate a potential disaster is itself a pretty big problem. > it doesn't seem to be the 'emergency' that media is trying to make it out as I haven't seen any exaggerated coverage. If you're seeing the word "emergency" that's because the governor requested a state of emergency and the president approved it.

kallistisoft 3y ago
> This comment reminds me a bit of people saying that Y2K must have been way overhyped because nothing bad actually happened. You're comparing apples and oranges ... Y2K was a know problem, with known trigger conditions, and prescribed remediation steps. The salt water intrusion is a moving target whose remediation steps aren't clear cut. The most recent estimate has pushed back the timeline for potential water fouling back by over a month and the new estimate put the salt ppm at <250 which is below the EPA's public safety floor. > I haven't seen any exaggerated coverage. [...] That might be because you're not from the area and haven't seen the empty shelves of bottled water and the run on water filtering equipment

selimthegrim 3y ago

That Reddit thread also points out in 1988 more people were drinking non-water beverages, Coke, beer, etc.