Saltwater intrusion update Sept. 29

Friday, September 29, 2023 4:00 p.m.

Dear Tulane Community,

We continue to closely monitor the saltwater intrusion situation in the Mississippi River, which may impact New Orleans in late October. As always, the health and safety of our community is our top priority.

Currently, tap water in New Orleans is safe to drink and use for all purposes. We are actively preparing to ensure that operations can continue as normal throughout this event for our uptown, downtown, Westbank, and Elmwood locations. The Tulane National Primate Research Center in Covington will not be impacted.  

We do not plan to move to remote working or learning.   

Campus Services/Operations and the Office of Emergency Preparedness & Response have begun taking crucial steps that in the event of a significant saltwater intrusion event allows us to keep our campuses operating.  Once again, our Primate Center campus on the Northshore will not be impacted.

These steps include the acquisition and installation of reverse osmosis machines for processing the water for non-potable uses (i.e., mechanical systems, research, etc.), the addition of portable restroom trailers, and the stockpiling of bottled water for potable use. Information on how bottled water will be distributed will be shared at a later date.

We are closely coordinating with local and state officials on this issue. In the coming weeks, as we learn more about the scope and impact of the saltwater intrusion in the Mississippi River, we will continue to keep you updated.

The city and state have additional resources that may be helpful as you learn more about this topic.

City of New Orleans Saltwater Intrusion FAQs

State of Louisiana Saltwater Intrusion FAQs

The official source of Tulane-related emergency information is tulane.edu/emergency. For any additional questions, please email emergencyprep@tulane.edu. We will continue to send update emails on Tuesdays and Fridays, unless there is a development that warrants an email update on a different day.

Respectfully,
 
The Office of Emergency Preparedness & Response