Chances for Luling levee better than ever before

St. Charles Parish officials say they have a better chance than ever before of getting a long-awaited levee for the Luling area because of a compromise in the route and a better working relationship with the Army Corps of Engineers.

For years, the parish has been trying to construct a levee around the Willowdale/Willowridge subdivisions that would be a part of the West Bank hurricane protection system. But corps and parish officials tangled over how much undeveloped land should be included inside the levee.

Originally, the parish favored a southern route that would have left a significant amount of wetlands between the levee and the Willowdale/Willowridge subdivisions. The parish believed that this route was essential because it would leave ponding areas for rain water. The property would also have been donated by Rathborne Land Co., which owns most of the land in that area.

However, the corps balked at the route because they foresaw the development of those wetlands into subdivisions in the future. Instead, the corps believed that the levee should abut areas that are already populated, which would not allow room for rain water falling in the subdivisions to flow into the wetlands.

In order to speed approval of the permit, the parish proposed a new route that would leave 27 acres of wetlands near the Davis Pond Diversion and another 23 acres of retention area south of the intersection of Willowdale Boulevard and Beaupre Drive.

The permit for the alignment, which would leave little room for future development, was submitted last month.

Councilman Shelley Tastet, who just returned from a seven-day trip to Washington, D.C. to speak with state representatives, said the new route was essential in making progress with the corps in regards to Phase II.

“The old route held us back, and I can say that we are closer now to getting an approval for the permit than we have been in the last five years,” he said. “Now, we have been close before, but I would rate our chances this time of getting a levee as a seven or eight out of 10 because we are working with both the corps and the landowner (Rathborne) at the same time.”

Councilman Terry Authement agrees.

“Everyone worked hard to come up with an alignment that would be acceptable to both the corps and the parish and now we have one that is a win-win for both,” he said. “We are definitely closer to getting a levee for Willowdale/Willowridge than we’ve ever been before.”

In fact, Authement said that the corps, the Environmental Protection Agency, and  the state’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries all agree with the alignment. It has also been submitted for public comment by the Department of Natural Resources.

“We have never had that happen before,” Authement said.

Tastet did make it clear though that all it takes is one wrench getting thrown into the equation to ruin everything, and that the parish still has to negotiate with Rathborne for the land.

“But I think this time everything looks really good,” he added.

Parish spokeswoman Renee Simpson said that the parish is continuing a dialogue with Rathborne and that negotiations are ongoing in “good faith.” However, the parish doesn’t rule out asking the Lafourche Basin Levee District to perform a “quick take” expropriation of the land if the parish and Rathborne can’t reach an agreement.

The proposed alignment for the second phase of the West Bank hurricane protection levee calls for a 7-foot-high levee to encase the Willowdale/Willowridge area. The project also includes a drainage canal and retention area on the dry side of the levee. A pump station would have to be built to move the water over the levee, according to the permit.

If the permit for Phase II is secured, the parish can start land acquisition. They might also be able to grub and clear the land along the approved alignment, as long as they receive permission to do so from the Department of Natural Resources and the corps.

Once that’s done, the parish could raise the elevation of the land to a point that would make it possible to install temporary control structures and use flood control devices such as tubes, sand bags and HESCO baskets to offer some protection to residents until the levee is completed.

Phase II would be part of a 10-mile long levee that would stretch from the Paradis Canal to the Davis Pond Diversion. The first phase of the project, the Magnolia Ridge levee, is under construction. If the parish gets the go-ahead on Phase II, they would then apply for a permit for Phase III, which would connect the Magnolia Ridge levee with the Willowdale one.

The total cost of the levee system, which would include the construction of three pump stations, is estimated to be $150 million.

Simpson said that the parish is not sure how much the second phase would cost to build, and since the project is not a part of the federal levee system, the parish would have to find ways to finance it.

But the parish must focus on getting the permit first.

“The present administration has worked to establish a more positive dialogue with the Corps of Engineers, and we feel that with our current working relationship, there is a better chance now that we will be able to move forward with the levee and get it built the right way,” Parish President V.J. St. Pierre said.

 

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