Morganza Spillway or Floodway Opening Trigger at 1.5 million cubic feet per second to high?

The Morganza Spillway gateway opening trigger is when the Mississippi River’s flow rate reaches 1.5 million cubic feet per second and rising at Red River Landing.

This trigger number is set so that the Morganza Spillway is opened only when necessary in regards to flood control for the Mississippi River.

HOWEVER, one must also take into account the people who, somehow, want to live in the Morganza Spillway Plain.

The number of people and structures, at one time, used to be relatively small, but now, has grown to 25,000 people and 11,000 structures.

The Morganza Spillway has only been opened once, in 1973. And since then until now, May 2011, the calm of NOT needing to open the Morganza Spillway has made it's inhabitants and people OVER-confident, that they can live their permantly.

THIS is WRONG. The Federal Government, perhaps, by making that area cheap, only emboldens the poor and uneducated to live in such areas, even if unintended or inadvertently.

The currentl trigger and policies, will only make it more harder, from a people perspective, to open the Morganza Spillway in the future as one needs to take into account the people who decided to live in the Morganza Floodway.

This situation is very similar to before spillways were created on the Mississippi River, the West Bank and East Bank of the river had guards to protect each side from the other side trying to destroy or "blow up" the other side's levee to relieve pressure from the high waters of the Mississippi River.

So instead of the West Bank and East Bank against each other, it will be like Baton Rouge and New Orleans against the people living in the Morganza spillway Floodway plain.

The powers that be, Congress, the Army Corp of Engineers, etc, should reevaluate the trigger of 1.5 million cubic feet and rising to a more lower level to

(1) lessen and reduce the chance of pressure in highly populated areas like Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

and

(2) to REMIND the inhabitants of those living the Morgana Floodway that this is a FLOODWAY and it should NOT be though of as a permanent place to live, raise a family, or build structures like houses that can't handle high waters during a flood gate opening like that from the Morganza Spillway.


It would wise to have "inspectors" to somehow enforce building codes in the Morganza Floodway, BUT one knows how the "inspectors" of New Orleans and Louisiana are.
Very similar to the NOPD, pay for protections, i.e. "Paid Details".