Louisiana has received federal approval of an emergency declaration over saltwater intrusion in the lower Mississippi River.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said President Joe Biden approved his request Wednesday for the declaration.

Edwards said as a result of the historic drought throughout the Mississippi River Valley, the rate of freshwater flowing down the Mississippi River has been dramatically low, allowing an intrusion of saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico to make its way upriver. Plaquemines Parish has already been affected by the intrusion, and other parishes are projected to be impacted over the next month including St. Bernard, Jefferson and Orleans.

“I’m grateful to the Biden administration for making this request a priority and responding quickly to help the people of South Louisiana,” Edwards said. “Efforts to mitigate the impact of the saltwater intrusion are currently underway and other projects are being considered based on the projections being received from the United States Army Corps of Engineers. This 90-day approval of our Emergency Declaration will help our state and local partners with the costs of any mitigation efforts and protective measures. As this event unfolds, we will continue to analyze the emergency efforts and impacts to determine if further requests will be necessary.”

The president’s approval authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency , to support all disaster relief efforts, which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, under the Public Assistance program limited to temporary measures that address reduced water treatment capability due to saltwater intrusion resulting from low water levels of the Mississippi River for no more than 90 days from the date of declaration, as authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, in Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Orleans and Jefferson parishes.