[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 163 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4932-S4933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Mississippi River

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I want to talk briefly to the Senate 
today about two issues. With respect to the first issue, I suppose I am 
talking to my people back in Louisiana as much as I am talking to my 
colleagues in the U.S. Senate.
  This is New Orleans. This is the Mississippi River, which, as you 
know, runs through New Orleans. Much of southeast Louisiana, including 
but not limited to the city of New Orleans, gets its drinking water 
from the Mississippi River. Of course, the Mississippi River is 
freshwater, and the Mississippi River is long, wide, and mighty.
  The Mississippi River's source is the northern part of our State. It 
drains a number of other rivers. This is the southern portion of the 
Mississippi River. In New Orleans, it kind of meanders around and 
shifts to the east before it hits south again into the Gulf of Mexico, 
which is, of course, saltwater.
  You probably never thought about this, Mr. President. Perhaps you 
have. Most people haven't. Why doesn't saltwater--the Mississippi River 
runs into the gulf, which is saltwater, and the gulf is a big area. Why 
doesn't saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico flow up the Mississippi 
River? That would be a good question.
  The reason is pretty simple. As I said, the Mississippi River is 
long, big, wide, and mighty, and it drains a good portion of the United 
States. When the Mississippi River is at normal levels, it flows very, 
very quickly and fast, and it keeps the saltwater down here in the Gulf 
of Mexico at bay.
  But sometimes the Mississippi River gets low, and it flows less 
swiftly, and that is the situation right now. When that happens--it has 
happened I think five times in the last three centuries--sometimes 
saltwater actually comes up from the gulf into the Mississippi River, 
which is a problem for my people in southeast Louisiana, including but 
not limited to New Orleans, because they rely on the Mississippi River 
for their drinking water because it is freshwater.
  This red line represents the saltwater intrusion. Saltwater is 
creeping up the Mississippi River just like a thermometer. We know, 
based on historical evidence, that it is not likely to go all the way 
up the Mississippi River, but that doesn't solve our problem in 
Louisiana because we depend on the Mississippi River for drinking 
water. If it gets far enough up the Mississippi River--``it'' meaning 
the saltwater--then we have a real problem in southeast Louisiana.
  As I say, in the last 25 years, this has happened four times--in 
1999, 2002, 2022, and it is happening this year as we speak. I think 
the time that it happened before was in 1888, if I recall correctly.
  I am an optimist who worries. I am worried about this because about 1 
million of my 4.6 million people in my State depend on this river for 
drinking water, and we are in the middle of watching the saltwater come 
up the river, and we don't think it is going to stop coming up the 
river until sometime around, I don't know, the end of October maybe. We 
could be wrong.
  But I want the Senate and I want my people to understand that their 
local, their State, and their Federal governments are dealing with this 
problem.
  First, I want to thank President Biden. President Biden declared a 
disaster declaration, which allows us to get the assistance of FEMA, 
and I am very, very grateful for that.
  No. 2, our Corps of Engineers is involved. They are very able people. 
Our Corps of Engineers, below the city of New Orleans, has built an 
underwater dam. That is what it looks like. It is like a dam. They call 
it a sill. I call it a dam or a levee. It is under the water. It is 
down below New Orleans.
  Well, why in the world would the Corps of Engineers do that? Because 
saltwater is heavier than freshwater and when the saltwater comes up 
the Mississippi River, it is not coming at the top; it is coming at the 
bottom.
  And the Corps of Engineers in a place called Myrtle Grove below New 
Orleans--by the way, Myrtle Grove is also known for its great fishing, 
wonderful fishing, and really good people. But at the area in the river 
next to Myrtle Grove, the corps is coming in, and they built an 
underwater dam.
  Now, that is not going to stop all the saltwater. It is just going to 
slow it down and stop some of it. So some of the saltwater, despite 
this dam, is still flowing north, headed toward New Orleans. The corps 
is talking about, if necessary, adding an additional 25 feet to the 
underwater dam.
  Right now, the underwater dam is about 55 feet. We add another 25 
feet. The river at that level or at this point is about 90 feet. And 
they are leaving a hole in the dam, in case you were wondering, for 
ships to come through.
  No. 3, the Corps of Engineers and FEMA are both prepared, if 
necessary, to deliver us freshwater, if we need it, by barge. And if 
you ever wonder about the might of the Federal Government and 
particularly our Corps of Engineers--again, I can't thank them enough--
they can deliver up to 36 million gallons of freshwater a day. So thank 
you, Corps of Engineers, and I want my people back home to know that, 
so they won't be worried.
  Also, looking on the bright side--put that back up for me will you, 
Henson--by the way, Mr. President, with me today are two of my 
colleagues from my office, Mr. Henson Webre and Mr. Christian Amy. I 
want to thank them for their help.
  Again, this is New Orleans. Here is the saltwater creeping up. Not 
everybody in New Orleans and in the New Orleans area and Southeast 
Louisiana gets their water from the Mississippi River. Some people have 
well water. So that is a plus.
  Some facilities in New Orleans have also started installing what is 
called reverse osmosis filtration machines to take the saltwater out of 
the freshwater. And we in government stand ready and willing to advise 
facilities of the right to do that.
  The other thing we are talking about doing--we are trying to not do 
this except as a last resort because it is so expensive--as you see 
here, the red is the saltwater; the blue is the freshwater. Folks who 
live down here by the saltwater and can't get water out of the 
Mississippi because it is too salty, we are thinking about building 
pipelines this direction, going north sort of along the river to get 
freshwater from a point in the river further up north and take it 
through those pipelines down south where we need it.
  Now, that is expensive. It is being looked at by local governments, 
being looked at by the State government. We are in discussions with the 
Federal Government about it. It will be a last resort because it is so 
expensive, and I hope that the saltwater intrusion can stop. We can 
stop it.
  Frankly, what is causing this is we are having a drought, and there 
is not enough water in the Mississippi River. If we could get a little 
rain up north, that will add to the volume of the river, and it will 
flow more quickly, and it will push that saltwater out.
  The final thing, I want my people to understand what we are doing. 
This is Southeast Louisiana. It is sort of the toe of the boot. Further 
up here in Louisiana, we have built a minidam. We call it the Old River 
Control structure on the Mississippi River, and we divert some of the 
water out of the Mississippi River into another river in Louisiana 
called the Atchafalaya River.
  In fact, we do that pursuant to a statute passed by Congress which 
says that 70 percent of the water at this point, which is way up here, 
has to be diverted--or kept in the Mississippi River, but 30 percent is 
diverted further west to the Atchafalaya River.
  Why do we do that? Because the corps decided years and years and 
years ago, that river at that point is so strong and so mighty and 
moving so quickly and so swiftly and that if we did not divert some of 
that water, the Mississippi would change course and, instead of flowing 
through Baton Rouge and New Orleans, it would change course and flow 
this way to the gulf. So years ago, the corps said, We need to take 
some water out.
  The corps is thinking about opening that dam up, if necessary, at the 
Old River Control structure and putting some of that water back into 
the Mississippi River that it is diverting right now to increase the 
flow of the river, which will, of course, push the saltwater back out.
  So I appreciate, Mr. President, the Senate's patience in allowing me 
to explain this. As I say, I want to thank President Biden for his 
declaration. I

[[Page S4933]]

want to thank FEMA. I want to thank the Corps of Engineers.
  I don't want my people to worry. Your folks in government have 
pounced on this issue like a ninja, and I am not saying we have it 
solved, but we are doing everything we can to get us through this.