Sanctity of franchise
October 10, 2018
Good times, good cause
October 10, 2018
Backwater flooding prevention in Gibson, is back on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers radar.
Tim Matte, executive director of the St. Mary Parish Levee District, said the Corps has given a green light to the Bayou Chene Flood Control Project, a $107 million flood control structure that will prevent backwater flooding in Gibson, and decrease the impact of tidal surges moving through the Intracoastal waterway.
The Corps issued a regulatory permit for the construction of the structure last week.
Matte said this permit is in addition to the La Department of Natural Resources coastal use permit that was issued in Sept of 2015. It was later re-issued and modified in March 2018, to incorporate changes required by the Corps.
Plans call for a 250 ft wide floating barge gate with a braced sheet pile wall, to be constructed on Avoca Island – just a few miles from Morgan City and on the property of Continental Land in Terrebonne Parish. The barge will extend outward 375 feet, in each direction.
In 2011, a temporary structure was placed in Bayou Chene to block flood waters from impacting Northwest Terrebonne Parish. The barge was sunk in the wake of the corps opening the Morganza Spillway, to thwart a surge of Mississippi River water not seen since the Great Flood of 1927.
But due to the dry conditions inside the Atchafalaya Basin then, the impact of the water levels near Morgan City and Gibson weren’t as large as expected. However, Matte, who was Mayor of Morgan City at the time, said the barge stopped over three feet of water from impacting the area.
William Hidalgo, chairman of the St. Mary Parish Levee District Board, said this is a major milestone.
“This effort has been a long time coming and is vitally important to the entire region including parts of six neighboring parishes. This is a major milestone in the full development of this project,” Hidalgo said.
Matte said the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, CPRA, will fund the project, beginning in the early part of 2020.
He said the St. Mary Levee District will begin the final design of the levee and structures within the next few weeks in order to have the project ready for construction at the end of 2019.
Hidalgo said the district commissioners wish to thank the Corps, CPRA, the La. Department of Natural Resources, and our state lawmakers, including Sen. Bret Allain, Reps Sam Jones and Beryl Amedee.
Hidalgo also thanked Terrebonne Parish Gordon Dove for his work on the project, when he represented Terrebonne Parish in the legislature.
Dove said news of the project is nothing but great. The Terrebonne Parish President had previously served on the CPRA committee and was also Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee when he served in the legislature.
Reggie Dupre, Terrebonne Parish Levee District Director, credited the barge for stopping over four feet of water from entering the area, in 2011.
“Its work was impressive. So much so that the 18 miles of levees that Michel had constructed were almost redundant because the barge was situated at the primary line of impact.”
Dupre said the corps’ green light by issuing the permit, “Will finally let us move forward on this very crucial project.”
Dupre, who also previously served in the legislature, said the project will be a fine example of how Louisiana parishes work together, as the barge benefits St. Mary, Terrebonne, Assumption, Lafourche, Iberville and lower St. Martin Parishes.
