The Mississippi River pours through opened gates of the Morganza Spillway Structure in 1973. Only part of the gates were opened, the only time that has been done.
A decision to open gates on the spillway control structure which moves Mississippi River water into the east Atchafalaya Basin was imminent, he said.
The govenor spoke with U.S. Corps of Engineers officials on Friday, who told him that a formal decision on whether to open the spillway could come Friday afternoon.
"I'm confident in what they have told us that it is extremely likely that the spillway will be opened by tomorrow night, certainly by Sunday at the latest," Jindal said .
The corps has said the river's flow is approaching 1.5 million cubic feet per second. The corps has recommended to the Mississippi River Commission, on oversight body, that the spillway be opened at that point.
If Morganza is opened, water would flow 20 miles south into the Atchafalaya River. From there it would roll on to the Gulf of Mexico, flooding swamps and croplands.
Communities threatened by its impact include Krotz Springs, Butte La Rose, Stephensville and Morgan City.
Backwaters from the Mississippi meanwhile are filtering into regions of Concordia, Catahoula, Rapides and Avoyelles Parishes.
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