Louisiana Governor Warns Against ‘Irrational Panic Buying’ of Bottled Water As Salt Water Creeps Up the Mississippi River 

Louisiana's governor pleaded with residents against "irrational panic buying" of bottled water as a stream of salt water from the Gulf of Mexico makes its way north up the Mississippi River and threatens to contaminate the drinking supply, according to reports. 

"There is no need to panic," Gov. John Bel Edwards said at a press conference Friday in New Orleans. 

“Obviously, the most important thing to do is to ensure that we have plenty of clean drinking water,” Edwards said, noting that hoarding water could disrupt the supply chain, Courthouse News Service reported.

“Be a good neighbor and don’t overstock,” the governor said. “We can cause problems if there is irrational panic buying.”

For the second year in a row, drought has severely reduced the levels of the Mississippi River, allowing a "wedge" of salt water to creep upriver where it could contaminate freshwater supplies. 

The river usually is able to push the salt water back to the Gulf, but its flow this year is the weakest it has been since 1988.

The briney stream has already progressed about 66 miles north of the river's mouth and could reach New Orleans by mid-October.

Residents in Plaquemines Parish, which sits between the Gulf and the Big Easy, have already been relying on fresh drinking water distributed by the parish. 

Parish President W. Keith Hinkley said about 2,000 residents are unable to drink their water because of salt water contamination.

A man in Belle Chasse, just south of New Orleans in the northern tip of the parish, was loading up water on Friday. 

"Because they say we're not going to have nothing but salt water, and I need something to drink. You do what you gotta do, you know, when things get tough,” the man told WWLTV in New Orleans.

A woman nearby had a cart filled to the brim. 

“As far as drinking the water, and cooking with it, I'm in fear of that. So, we need to get the water so we can have fresh water for our cooking and bathing, not even, washing our faces, and brushing our teeth,” she told the station. 

In an attempt to slow the stream of salt water upstream, the US Army Corps of Engineers plans to increase the height of an underwater barrier, called a "sill," it built about 13 miles south of Belle Chasse in July. 

But even that may just be a stopgap measure, a delay that will allow officials to provide resources to the parishes that will be affected.

Col. Cullen Jones of the Army Corps of Engineers warned the situation could last several months.

“We would need to see approximately 10 inches of water across the entire Mississippi Valley,” Jones said. “We normally don’t see that kind of precipitation, so we’re expecting to experience this for weeks or months.”

The governor also said he would pray for rain.

“We do need some rain,” Edwards said. “I’m not in charge of that. I’m one who happens to believe in the power of prayer and I’m going to be praying for that.”