River Levels April 16, 2020

the Mississippi River has crested this week.  While we were busy quarantining ourselves the river was busy rising.  The Bonnet Carre  Spillway just west of New Orleans and east of Baton Rouge.  On April 3, 2020 the Army Corps of Engineers opened 90 bays.  Since the river level is dropping, they have decided not to close those bays yet.  The Spillway is designed to allow the water in the Mississippi River to bypass New Orleans and thus alleviate any flooding that would occur.

This is the 3rd year in a row the Bonnet Carre has opened.  Unprecedented.  And last year, the second year in row was itself unprecedented.

Here in Baton Rouge, I compare the level of the river by photographing the letters BATON ROUGE along the levee at Main Street and River Road.

Today, Frank and I grabbed some po boys from Poor Boy Lloyd's and sat on the levee to eat.  The day is incredible!  Not a cloud in the sky and a crisp coolness in the air, even in the sun.  After the rain a couple days ago, the air has been cleared of some of that pollen and things look brighter.

Here is the river today, at 43.5 feet.  Keeping in mind that flood stage is 35 feet.  Can't even see the letters!











From just a couple weeks ago, the letters are about 2/3s covered.

And then August last year:

Mississippi River Is Very Low Now

Please click on the photos to make them larger.  It helps me create the post with the smaller photos.  Gotta love Blogger!

I had lunch with Diana and Gwen at Elsie's Plate and Pie.  OMG!  We had seafood and chicken pot pies and two kinds of each, coconut cream, cherry, almond joy and chocolate.  Oh, My!  Can you say "gain 3 lbs dinner"?

So after lunch Frank brought me to the Mississippi River to shoot some photos of the river levels.  I was really shocked to see how low the river is now.

I took a photo of Frank standing down at the river's edge on the batture area and looking up to give you some perspective.  I was on top of the levee above those letters.  Finally, you get to see the letters!









I asked him to run back down the levee to take a photo of the letters.  They are really huge letters on the cemented area of the levee.  Here all you can see is the Rouge part of Baton Rouge.







And to give you a perspective view of how large the letters are, Frank is standing on the river batture looking up to me at the top of the E.  Can you see me way up there. That is a distance of about 42 feet.







Here is the April 2019 level showing the top bar of the E letter.  you can see the very top of the levee where I was standing yesterday in the photo below.

Here is the shot I have been taking of the flooded river showing the height of the water in relation to that E.  The city workers were power washing the steps when we were there and they have washed the evidence of the water levels on that E.  If you remember, the water was in the middle of the top bar of the E.  If you can make out the white markings on the cement just above the E, it is telling us that that is 42.8 feet.







We walked down the levee about a half mile to check out the Paperclip Landing and the USS Kidd, our WWII Destroyer Museum.  IF you remember the Paperclip had water up to near the bottom of that first level.  That is where the American Queen and Mississippi Belle steam ships that tour the River dock for the Baton Rouge tours.  We like to go down and talk to people coming off the steamboats. You can see the  walkway down to the second level at flood stage in April 2019 in the photo below

Here is the USS Kidd back in April 2019 when the River was at its highest.  It was completely floating and held in by the cradle positioned on the side we can't see.  

Here is a great view of the cradle.  It is basically a post pylon with a sheet of metal with a hole it in threaded on the posts.  The metal is attached to the  side of the destroyer.  The Kidd floats freely up and down the post as the river level changes.  This allows the Kidd to float up as the water rises and drop into a stationary cradle when the water level goes beyond the underside of the ship.

And here is the view of the batture around the Kidd.

In the shots from April2019 the water was to the 4th step on the cemented area of the levee.  

Hope you have enjoyed the photos over the last few years.  We are fascinated with the Mississippi River beauty and activity.  And keep in mind, there is no connection the localized flooding we experienced in 2016 and the river levels.  The Mississippi River does not flood Baton Rouge.  We flood from the smaller tributaries  being overwhelmed by rains.  

So that is your Natural History Lesson for today!

Astounding Mississippi River Levels in August

My first outing was into the city and down to the Mississippi River Levee to take some photos of the water .  Several news reports talked about how the river was going down.  But I wanted to see it for myself.

Here is the river at peak levels in June 2019.

Here are some River Levels in May 2019:  You can see there are only a few steps showing.

Here are some photos in April 2019, the walk to the USS Kidd, the Paperclip where the riverboats dock and the cradle that holds the USS Kidd in place.  The Kidd floats within that cradle so it doesnt' get swamped with high water.  

And here is the water level in the Mississippi River today in August 2019.  You can see the steps and the letters and the Batture.  The Batture is the area between the water and the levee.  According to law, the batture can be owned by private ownership.  According to Louisiana Civil Code: 

The Mississippi River is a naturally navigable water way (in this case river or stream). Thus the banks (between the high water mark and the low water mark) of naturally navigable rivers or streams are private property subject to public use. Public use boils down to basic economic uses, ex. drying nets, tying off, etc. However recreational uses are not typically considered public use, ex. recreational fishing. 

 Here is the full height of the levee steps, they were powerwashing the river silt off the steps and the Paperclip Dock.

and what you see below is the walkway to the USS Kidd.  Check out the earlier photos to see the level of water just below the actual walkway where now you can see the batture land.