NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Crews have begun closing the Bonnet Carre spillway as water levels on the Mississippi River fall.
The Army Corps of Engineers says crews worked to close 10 bays at the Bonnet Carre on Monday. The corps says it will work to close the remaining 200 bays that are still open.
The spillway upriver from New Orleans was opened to divert high waters into Lake Pontchartrain and lessen the flow passing through New Orleans and its busy port.
Water levels along the river are falling and this is allowing the corps to begin closing the spillway.
The spillway was opened on Jan. 10, the second time the spillway has been opened in January and the 11th time it's been used since it was constructed after the Great Flood of 1927.
