Monitoring Lake Ponchartrain basin

The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, along with numerous federal entities, have begun monitoring the environmental effects of opening the Bonnet Carre Spillway in Louisiana to lower water levels on the Mississippi River by moving part of the flow into Lake Pontchartrain. The spillway was opened March 8 by the Army Corps of Engineers; and is expected to remain open for some three weeks. Some of those effects could include algae blooms, caused by a combination of fertilizer and other nutrients, carried by the river interacting with sunlight. Such blooms have included blue-green algae, which is toxic to humans and pets. Large algae blooms can sink and cause low-oxygen dead zones on the lake’s bottom, which uses up oxygen after it decomposes. The LPBF will be monitoring how the addition of the river's freshwater reduces the salinity in the lake and as far east as Mississippi Sound; and effects on fisheries and oysters, said John Lopez, director of the foundation's coastal sustainability program. The combination of a brief opening period should limit the effect, he concluded. (Source: NOLA.com 03/08/18)