I'm just going to throw this out there because no one has really mentioned it...
Could it be that the erosion in the lower ship channel (9-mile/supercut) area over time has increased the need to keep the weirs closed more over time?
Maybe the weirs were a proactive approach to land loss and as the erosion has gotten worse and worse over the years there is a greater and greater need to keep the weirs closed more often. Does anyone have any average salinity reports from both sides of the weirs from when they were first constructed until current dates? I think that would be interesting to see and add a lot to understanding the issues here.
Either way, It sounds like this is a very complex problem that isn't going to be fixed with dynamite.
|