Comments on: Nature always bats last http://walt.lishost.org/2011/05/nature-always-bats-last/ The library voice of the radical middle. Thu, 23 May 2013 16:58:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: walt http://walt.lishost.org/2011/05/nature-always-bats-last/comment-page-1/#comment-62077 walt Mon, 16 May 2011 00:32:18 +0000 http://walt.lishost.org/?p=3159#comment-62077 You’re no doubt right–I was probably conflating the Morganza situation with ORCS–but the ORCS is, sooner or later, doomed to fail, in my opinion: The river wants to go where the river wants to go.

]]> By: John Mark Ockerbloom http://walt.lishost.org/2011/05/nature-always-bats-last/comment-page-1/#comment-62076 John Mark Ockerbloom Mon, 16 May 2011 00:09:24 +0000 http://walt.lishost.org/?p=3159#comment-62076 My understanding is that the Morganza opening was expected, and won’t permanently reroute the river. The critical bulwark maintaining the current route is the Old River Control Structure further upstream; if that one fails, I gather the rerouting would be either extremely difficult or impossible to undo.

The ORCS came close to failing in 1973. Part of the reason for opening the Morganza now is to take some of the pressure off the ORCS.

My knowledge of the lower Mississippi is at some remove (mostly reading John McPhee’s articles on it), though, so I’d be happy to hear from folks with more expertise.

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