Bayou St. John water covers a pier by the intersection of Florida Avenue and Moss Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Bayou St. John water is higher than normal after valve mishap in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
People walk on Moss Street where the water in Bayou St. John is higher than the road in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Ducks float on a higher-than-normal Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Water laps up into the yards of houses along Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Joggers run along a higher-than-normal Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Water from Bayou St. John leaks onto the sidewalk on Lafitte Avenue in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Water comes up onto the grass on Moss Street along Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Water from Bayou St. John seeps onto the sidewalk on Lafitte Avenue in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
A turtle swims in higher-than-normal Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Kayakers paddle down a higher-than-normal Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Bayou St. John water rises higher than Moss Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Bayou St. John stands higher than normal in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Bayou St. John water covers a pier by the intersection of Florida Avenue and Moss Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
People walk on Moss Street where the water in Bayou St. John is higher than the road in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Ducks float on a higher-than-normal Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Water laps up into the yards of houses along Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Joggers run along a higher-than-normal Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Water from Bayou St. John leaks onto the sidewalk on Lafitte Avenue in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Water comes up onto the grass on Moss Street along Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Water from Bayou St. John seeps onto the sidewalk on Lafitte Avenue in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
A turtle swims in higher-than-normal Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Kayakers paddle down a higher-than-normal Bayou St. John in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Bayou St. John water rises higher than Moss Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Bayou St. John stands higher than normal in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
Bayou St. John topped its banks and partially flooded some yards Wednesday morning, after the local flood management authority let too much water into the New Orleans channel.
Crews working for Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East "overshot the target level" when releasing water into the bayou via valves linked to Lake Pontchartrain, said Chris Humphreys, the authority's engineering director.
Several residents shared photos of flooded lawns and sidewalks along the bayou. Humphreys said no flooding in buildings or other property damage was reported.
Bayou St. John water is higher than normal after valve mishap in New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.
The bayou is not a free-flowing waterway. The authority regulates its flows, keeping it at a level to which residents have become accustomed. This week, the bayou was a bit low, so crews opened the valves to give it a boost.
"Crews keep an eye on the bayou to keep it at the sweet spot," Humphreys said. But the lake's levels were "higher than expected," possibly due to a high tide.
In New Orleans' early days, the bayou flowed north through the city and emptied in the lake. A floodgate built along the lake in the 1960s, and other water control projects, shifted the bayou's flows in the opposite direction. The flow now starts with valves or gates at the Bayou St. John Flood Control Structure, near Lakeshore Drive, and ends at drains between Orleans and Lafitte avenues.
In recent decades, the compacting of soil, a process called subsidence, has made the bayou lower than the lake. If the gates were opened for a long period, lake water would flood nearby neighborhoods.
The valves were closed as Wednesday at 10 a.m., stopping the flow into the bayou. The next challenge was getting the excess water out, a duty that falls to another agency, the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, which manages the bayou's drains.
The authority was working with the S&WB on Wednesday afternoon to open a series of valves to move the pent-up water into the drainage system. The bayou was expected to return to normal levels by the end of the day, Humphreys said.
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This work is supported with a grant funded by the Walton Family Foundation and administered by the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Tristan Baurick: tbaurick@theadvocate.com; on Twitter: @tristanbaurick.
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