Lafourche Parish embarks on drainage study

A small crowd attended the second public hearing for the Lafourche Parish Drainage Study, led by local engineering firm T. Baker Smith, last Wednesday and informed the study’s lead officials about drainage concerns specific to their area.

Jimmy Ledet, who heads the T. Baker Smith Thibodaux office noted that, so far, some 181 miles of the forced drainage system in the parish has been studied and surveyed. Ledet said public input is crucial to the study’s accuracy.

“People know their specific areas and drainage issues much better than anyone else,” Ledet said. “We need their input as to where the problems are and what they believe the major drainage issues are in their neighborhoods.”

A handful of residents spoke at the meeting concerning specific drainage issues including Rebecca Crochet, who noted her difficulty in obtaining a permit to upgrade a septic system on 139th Street in Galliano because there are no ditches down that street. “We couldn’t get a permit to upgrade a septic system because there was nowhere to put a drain line,” she said. “If a ditch were put on this street, all the streets in the area could have access to this ditch for drainage.”

Ledet noted that this is the type of input that parish and engineering officials were seeking from area residents. He encouraged resident to call in their drainage issues to a dedicated telephone number established for this purpose or to submit their issues and concerns online at a website set up for the study.

In conjunction with engineering and construction firms and the North Lafourche Levee District, Lafourche Parish Government is conducting a master drainage study in the parish to determine what are the chronic problem areas as well as to assess the overall drainage needs of the parish.

The study, expected to carry a cost of approximately $1 million, is being paid for mostly from state and federal grant funding as well as a portion from the North Lafourche Levee District.

Ledet stressed that the study was encompassing the drainage needs cause by rain water runoff and not storm surge. “Storm surge drainage and runoff is an entirely different issue altogether,” he said. “We are focusing on rain water runoff in this study.”

Two more meetings are scheduled for the public to voice their concerns: May 2 at the Choctaw Volunteer Fire Station, 2854 Choctaw Road, and May 4 at the Bayou Blue Recreation Center, 200 Mazerac St. Both meetings are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

People can call in their drainage problems to (985) 493-2964 or submit comments online at www.lafourchedrainagestudy.com

The study is expected to be complete and a final document released in March 2012.