LOOP evolves, plans more storage
May 25, 2016
Death takes no holiday in Chauvin
May 28, 2016
Parish Councilman Dirk Guidry was born and raised on the Terrebonne Parish bayous, and has a lot of experience with the various water levels the communities beside them experience.
This year, he says, has been unique. Experts on flood protection and related topics say he’s not imagining a difference, and that while the trend is for now temporary, more consistently high water levels can be expected in decades to come.
More immediately, high water has meant higher rates of closure for floodgates, an issue for marine traffic. But local levee district officials say they are doing their best to keep the effects to a minimum.
“I don’t remember when I have ever seen the water this high,’ Guidry said in a recent interview. “Honestly, I don’t think I have ever seen this.”
His two business locations, the Pizza Express restaurants in Houma and Chauvin, give him a bird’s eye view of water levels, located as they are alongside different stretches of Bayou Petit Caillou.
Guidry’s concerns are not hyperbolic, and experts on local water levels say he is on target.
Other local officials have noticed heightened levels of street flooding in some neighborhoods. While minor flooding has been expected in some areas due to unusually high waters on the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers, the high bayous throughout Terrebonne Parish are more of a coastal issue, related to the Gulf of Mexico.
“We have all noticed that,” said Reggie Dupre, executive director of the Terrebonne Conservation and Levee District. “One indicator for us at the levee district is how frequently we have to operate the Bayou Terrebonne and Humble Canal floodgates.”
The period from May 1 to Nov. 1 sees normally infrequent operation of the flood control structures. But the period from November 2015 to May of this year has been abnormally busy.
Dupre said those floodgates were opened and closed 43 times during the period. The normal closure rate for the period is roughly eight to 10, he said.
An El Nino weather pattern, Dupre said, has been the biggest culprit. Consistent southeast winds, which traditionally mean higher water levels in local coastal communities, have been common, along with higher tides.
There is a trade-off. The 2014 and 2015 hurricane seasons have seen minimal hurricane threats due to the weather pattern.
“The 2015 season was low because of El Nino, but it also provides a wet, windy winter that brings in southeast winds,” Dupre explained. “The El Nino is good for pushing away and disintegrating major hurricanes but the detriment is the southeasterly winds and the tidal activity.”
The weather patterns have kept Dupre and other levee officials busy with various alternative plans for coping with flood potential. Since the winter is usually slack, it is the season when flood gates and other control equipment traditionally undergoes maintenance. In addition, the Bubba Dove floodgate, normally in the Houma Navigation Canal, was taken out of service so that bigger winches could be installed, along with other special maintenance work beyond its normal schedule.
While the El Nino has been the biggest weather and tide maker locally, Dupre notes that other conditions, including sea level rise, subsidence and increased river runoff, play a role as well.
“By the 21st Century there will be a day when these bayou communities will need to have locks on them,” Dupre said. “That’s why the lock for the Houma Navigation Canal is so important. Other bayou communities will need locks in the future in order to be sustainable.”
