[SolomoninSouthDakota]

"When Lake Ponchatrain lowers to a more natural level, the levee breaks will allow the flow of water back to the lake thru the canals"

Now someone is coming to a key question I've wondered about. If that long-named lake is open to and drains freely into the Gulf of Mexico, why is it also staying so high? It does have a quite large "drain opening" into the Gulf from my analysis. Is it probable that the big Miss. River is somehow feeding into both the city of New Orleans and the lake as well? Perhaps since Katrina has basically stopped up it's drainage area into the delta? Or am I wrong in saying the lake is in fact high? Can anyone help me understand this?

[owl37]

1. Lake Ponchartrain is getting an incredible amount of run off from the storm.

2. The Missississississippi is prevented from flowing into the lake by the Bonne Carre spillway. (i.e. a dam)

[Arizona Carolyn]

Makes sense to me, but do you think anyone would admit it at this point. I suspect they want to get the people out and settled before dropping the big bomb on everyone. There is a place where they open the Mississippi to Ponchatrain to drain off excess flood waters on the Miss... actually causing a silting problem in Ponchartrain... the whole system has been a disaster waiting to happen in more ways than one.

[John Jamieson]

The river can dump into the lake, but I hope that spillway is closed.

The normal LP level is 1 foot above sea level.

Surge brought the lake to about 15 feet above SL.

Might have been kept too high before hurricane?

Now drained down to 3 feet above SL.

B52 required to lower it faster, I think. Could be dropped to near SL overnight with right bombs.

[coon2000]

There is a very narrow opening of Lake Ponchartrain through the Rigolets and into Lake Borgne. It takes a while for the lake to drain after hurricanes or after the spill way has been opened. The river drains well below the lake, probably 60 miles, so unless it is coming through the Bonne Carre Spillway, the river is not feeding the lake.