Residents want sugarcane tractors to abandon route
November 9, 2010Thursday, Nov. 11
November 11, 2010Teaming up in the use of federal money could help the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District, and the parish government, expand levee construction better than working independently to build both flood and hurricane protection.
With 12 protection projects on the map, board members of the levee district were given a progress update last Monday.
“We sort of have a concurrent jurisdiction,” said levee district Executive Director Reggie Dupre, following the meeting, as he explained how the district and local government are working together to enhance water control in Terrebonne Parish.
Dupre noted that levees that fall on the coastal side of what is identified as the Morganza-to-the-Gulf project fall under the jurisdiction of the levee district, while those bayou areas more inland from that line are the responsibility of the parish.
However, regarding some of the project work, the parish has turned over portions of a Community Development Block Grant that is expected to be used to help fund a 3.5-mile stretch that parallels Falgout Canal from Bayou Dularge to the Houma Navigational Channel.
“The parish government, after the 2008 hurricanes, were awarded approximately $120 million of federal CDBG disaster dollars,” Dupre said. “The parish president has recognized approximately $80 million of the $120 million will be going to levees and coastal protection issues.”
Dupre said that Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet approached the board several weeks ago and offered $19 million of CDBG money with the understanding that what is good for the levee district would ultimately be good for the parish as a whole.
The levee director said Claudet did not specify where the grant money should be used, but that levee district officials contend what is called Reach E in the Dularge area would be the best spot to invest this funding and build a levee just south of the parish road and at an elevation of 10 feet.
“The parish intends on having the Terrebonne Levee District sign a sub-recipient agreement. In turn the levee district would act as an agent for the parish in [constructing] this project,” Dupre said.
“The parish is going to apply for a change in the CDBG plan for $14 million. The $14 million is the construction cost for that particular project. Once you add all the other costs including land, mitigation and land rights, the anticipated cost is $20 million,” Dupre said.
If the joint parish and levee district plan is approved by federal agencies it will be the first time a levee reach was paid for without the use of funds from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“This makes a more complete system and I think it is a benefit for the people of the area,” Dupre said.
Ultimately, the Morganza hurricane protection system will consist of 72 miles of earthen levee with 12 floodgates and a lock structure to keep waterways navigable.
Coastal erosion, marsh deterioration, saltwater intrusion, current changes in the Mississippi River, as well as greater hurricane protection was offered as elements that contribute to the ongoing construction of this project.
