Mississippi River watched

• By AMY WOLD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Nov 8, 2009

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

It’s been more than 70 years since the Mississippi River has risen to current November levels, largely as a result of heavy rainfall in Louisiana and other parts of the Mississippi River Basin.

“It’s the highest water level in the Mississippi River since 1935 for this time of year,” said Col. Alvin Lee, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District. “It’s very unique.”

Although the current river forecast indicates water levels at Baton Rouge would crest — or reach their highest point before falling again — on Nov. 16, the river is not expected to reach flood stage, said Jeff Graschel, service coordination hydrologist with the National Weather Service’s Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center in Slidell.

On Friday, the river stage at Baton Rouge stood at 32.2 feet and rising, but that was still below its 35-foot flood stage.

Flood stage is the level of water that would force water over the river’s natural banks if it weren’t for the Mississippi’s  man-made and maintained levees.

Jim Ferguson, drainage engineer for the city-parish, said normal late-fall river stages at Baton Rouge are 20 feet and below.

“It’s usually pretty low right now,” he said.

As part of the higher water protocol from the corps, Ferguson is inspecting the levees protecting downtown Baton Rouge twice a week, which is a change of pace for this time of year.

Graschel said October is usually one of the drier months of the year, but Louisiana and areas upstream received above-average rainfall this year.

“Tremendous amount of rainfall we’ve gotten this last month,” he said. “We’ve also had some heavy rainfall in the Mississippi River Basin in St. Louis and the Missouri Basin.”

Gina Tillis-Nash, senior hydrologist, said there has also been more water than normal released from Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley into the Ohio River.

A flood warning continues at a point north of Baton Rouge at the Red River Landing where the river was at 49 feet — about 1 foot above flood stage. The river at that location is expected to rise to near 51 feet by Nov. 15, according to a National Weather Service bulletin.

In New Orleans, the river stage was at 12.8 feet on Friday and forecast to crest at 13.5 feet by Nov. 18, according to the forecast center. Flood stage in New Orleans is 17 feet.