Water water everywhere but everything's on fire

Well for starters I think we may have stumbled upon a new method for restoring South Louisiana's wetlands. It's a freshwater diversion project of sorts.

Nine months after Hurricane Katrina, S&WB officials are scrambling to plug an untold number of underground leaks, cracks and gashes, most of which sprung when the epic storm's winds uprooted trees and pried loose the water pipes around them.

How much water is leaking? Slightly more than the whole city uses under normal circumstances.

Before the Aug. 29 storm, New Orleans' 455,000 residents used about 120 million gallons of water every day, and about 30 percent of it regularly disappeared through cracked pipes, or was used to fight fires or for other public uses, said S&WB Executive Director Marcia St. Martin.

That means that 84 million gallons served the city's pre-Katrina citizenry.

Now, with the population estimated at 221,000, the S&WB is pumping out even more than before the storm: about 135 million gallons per day, she said. Billing records show that only 50 million gallons are needed for private use, so 85 million gallons are pouring into the ground.

The leaking water is a major threat to the entire city's infastructure. Everything from sewer lines to city streets to the foundation of your house is at risk due to rapid soil subsidence caused by the underground gushers. A few days ago City Hall had to close early due to lack of water pressure. I may have mentioned also somewhere that we are also dealing with constant fires all over town. Not a good thing with no water pressure. Especially when FEMA is threatening to pull emergency funding from your fire fighting efforts.. which would mean discontinuing those firebird choppers we've seen so much of lately.

The T-P article mentions that the city is contracting for new sensor equipment that will help detect these leaks.. but it doesn't mention much in the way of how the job of fixing them will be handled. I'm sure they'll get their best people on it ASAP.