Bonne Carre Spillway to open (1 Viewer)

[skymike]

Rock on Buzd! This is KrraAaAaZy stuff! And of course, no one lives there, ... I hope... I guess they warn everyone who might be just poking around the area-- somehow...? "Attention everyone! You might want to start running about now."

So this messes up the fishing on the Lake? (I sense a debate here between "No, this is a good thing" and "Awww this screws everything up.")

Ok, this also trips me out: I've seen tides along the Gulf, etc. but I can swear the difference in the Lake over by I-10, (I'm presuming it IS tidal) is about a two miles--- it appears to me to swing wildly between 2 miles under shallow water and then "low tide?" comes and it looks like a sea of spongy semi-dry land. I know the slope is almost nothing, but am I imagining this?

I've hung around the marsh in Anahuac, Tx, but I've never seen anything like this.

More spillway pics!

 

[aj]

I have some pics that I think are from the opening - the subject line say Spillway at Norco and they are from April. I just don't know how to post them.

 

[skymike]

aj, its kind of refreshing to meet someone who doesnt know how to upload, for some reason.

1. hit reply to thread
2. scroll down past the part where you "write stuff", and hit "manage attachments."
3. then hit "browse", and pick your pics, I think you have to hit "save" or something, but I dont remember whats next.

look forward to seeing your pics.

woohoo! spillway!

 

[Saintlady]

They are catching shrimp in the Spillway now too. A friend of my husband's got some "River" shrimp yesterday. I'm not familiar with those, but as long as you can boil them up and eat them, I guess all is good.


CT: That's not enough crawfish to feed the CT clan. We need to have many more pounds before the invite gets sent out.

 

[chrisandersen]

After Katrina/Rita, tons of sharks in the lake. We would catch (and release) at least 2-3 every time we went out. Small black tips.

 

[buzd]

So this messes up the fishing on the Lake? (I sense a debate here between "No, this is a good thing" and "Awww this screws everything up.")

They're will be some debate, just as there was after Katrina (which was the opposite - pushing salt water into the lake/marshes and upping the salinity) - I think K proved to be a Good Thing from a sealife/seafood perspective.

The fact that the river water is fresh is only part of the problem. The main problem is that it's nasty. Fertilizer, sewerage, petrochemicals and all that other city run off from upriver. You've heard of the dead zone in the gulf? Everything causing that just got sloughed into the lake.

Ok, this also trips me out: I've seen tides along the Gulf, etc. but I can swear the difference in the Lake over by I-10, (I'm presuming it IS tidal) is about a two miles--- it appears to me to swing wildly between 2 miles under shallow water and then "low tide?" comes and it looks like a sea of spongy semi-dry land. I know the slope is almost nothing, but am I imagining this?

The lake is not deep at all. 12-20 feet. I've never seen it where the the dry land shows through (like Mobile Bay after Andrew), but I'd probably believe it. But the lake is tidal, in that it's directly connected to the gulf through the Rigolets (south of the I-10 twin spans to Slidell), as opposed to being a purely inland lake (which is technically what a lake is). That's why the fishing in the Rigolets is usually very good - lots of tidal movement.

More spillway pics!

Search Bonnet Carre spillway on youtube - there are several videos.

 

[aj]

Ok - Here are a few of the pics - let's see if this works

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

aj, its kind of refreshing to meet someone who doesnt know how to upload, for some reason.



woohoo! spillway!

LOL it's kind of refreshing to see someone who's excited about the Spillway, Mike... I grew up for the most part about a two minute walk from that thing and I guess i just got used to it being there. Fun place to go riding 3 wheelers (when it's empty) and waterski, two things I haven't done since I lived there as a kid.

 

[chrisandersen]

LSU is monitoring the lake for massive algae blooms this summer. Here's the link
http://katrina.esl.lsu.edu/katrina/lakep/ and a pic of the river water in the lake.
Also, from the Save Our Lake people:
Short story is that it’s not the river water but what’s in the river water (high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus). These increase the risk of algae blooms and dead zones (just like in the Gulf). For the near term, the lake will turn brown as river water begins to displace lake water. At the current rate, that would take about one month. Marine species will head to the east and for the passes. Visibility will be terrible (look like the river). June and July will be the time to watch as the water heats up. If we can make it through to August, without a major algae bloom, we could slip by. This is supposed to be a shorter duration event than 1997 so the amount of nutrients discharged into the lake hopefully will not be as great nor the impacts as severe.

 

[skymike]

YES! ROCK! SPILLWAY! HUAAAAH! (playing metal air guitar!) DAA DA-DA DUDAA!

Thanks, aj. I'm likin' these pics. Now I understand whats happening much better. It was driving me crazy. 1st time I drove to N.O, I saw the sign and went, "Spillway? Where? What the hell happened?"

... I grew up for the most part about a two minute walk from that thing and I guess i just got used to it being there. Fun place to go riding 3 wheelers ....

That must've been great. So how did you know when they were gonna open it up? Also, Im guessing its govt. land, so ANYBODY can go there & hunt? or trap crawfish after the water recedes?

Chris, interesting stuff on the pollutants and algae bloom. To me, the river is probably more like a "ship channel," like we have here in Houston. Though its beautiful around the plantation homes & rural parts. Only crazies like me & my buds fish & crab the Hou. Ship Channel, & thats only where it meets Galv. Bay.

Do sane people fish the Mississippi River south of say, Norco, and all those industries? Would you eat crabs from there?

Anybody have ground level pics of spillway?

 

[buzd]

Do sane people fish the Mississippi River south of say, Norco, and all those industries? Would you eat crabs from there?

Crabs are salt/brackish water creatures, not fresh. I don't know what a river shrimp is.

They do fish for river cats, but you can't eat them.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7978360

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

That must've been great. So how did you know when they were gonna open it up? Also, Im guessing its govt. land, so ANYBODY can go there & hunt? or trap crawfish after the water recedes?

Well, considering it's only been open twice in my lifetime (1997 and 2008), it wasn't that hard to tell...

I'm trying to remember, but as a kid I probably wasn't even aware of the concept that the Spillway could ever be filled with water-- to me, it was just kind of a big, wide-open playground that got really muddy when it rained; great for touch football games, bad for cars that got stuck... I think also that there is a part of the Spillway that has a mini-lake next to Lake Pontchratrain, which is where we used to go skiing. Man, I'm such a city guy now and thinking about this is reminding me of my country roots.

 

[CT Saints Fan]

YES! ROCK! SPILLWAY! HUAAAAH! (playing metal air guitar!) DAA DA-DA DUDAA!

Thanks, aj. I'm likin' these pics. Now I understand whats happening much better. It was driving me crazy. 1st time I drove to N.O, I saw the sign and went, "Spillway? Where? What the hell happened?"

That must've been great. So how did you know when they were gonna open it up? Also, Im guessing its govt. land, so ANYBODY can go there & hunt? or trap crawfish after the water recedes?

Chris, interesting stuff on the pollutants and algae bloom. To me, the river is probably more like a "ship channel," like we have here in Houston. Though its beautiful around the plantation homes & rural parts. Only crazies like me & my buds fish & crab the Hou. Ship Channel, & thats only where it meets Galv. Bay.

Do sane people fish the Mississippi River south of say, Norco, and all those industries? Would you eat crabs from there?

Anybody have ground level pics of spillway?

They only open it roughly every 15 years or so, and there's plenty of warning.

 

[skymike]

Crabs are salt/brackish water creatures, not fresh. I don't know what a river shrimp is.

Thats what I thought, but I have a Cajun friend who says he's getting blue crabs at Romayor, Tx, 60m upstream from Galv. Bay. I've never heard of a river shrimp either, but I bet I'd eat it!

And man, that is one ugly fish. All I can think of to use that for is cat food. What DO they do w/ them?

Man, I'm such a city guy now and thinking about this is reminding me of my country roots.

Glad I could do that for you, J. Dont be surprised if the boonies call you back as you get older. I never thought as a kid I would ever live somewhere like the Galleria. Pretty much cured my love for urban. Now, I see pastures, or even fishing on tv, and it makes me homesick. My hometown looks a lot like Rice Country around Crowley, so I especially love the drive across La.

How do you pronounce Bonne Carre?

 

[Saintlady]

LOL it's kind of refreshing to see someone who's excited about the Spillway, Mike... I grew up for the most part about a two minute walk from that thing and I guess i just got used to it being there. Fun place to go riding 3 wheelers (when it's empty) and waterski, two things I haven't done since I lived there as a kid.

It was weird seeing the area change. What used to be for four wheeler riding was filling up with water. One week you see the land starting to look like a little lake, with water up halfways to cover the signs, paths, picnic tables on the other side, etc. Then, the next week everything was under, no visible roads, signs, tables, anything. Now, it's drying up again.

It is interesting skymike.