Some Bayou Des Allemands residents want a floodwall, while others say the structure would disrupt their quality of life along the bayou by blocking both their view and their access to fishing and boating activities.
Flood tubes, recently purchased by the parish to help that area during flood events, could solve that problem for now.
But Councilman Paul Hogan believes that building a floodwall is the best and only solution to protect Des Allemands, Paradis and the Bayou Gauche area because the wall will provide a level of flood protection that the flood tubes cannot.
“The parish will be providing flood tubes in this area as means for temporary flood protection, which is better than what we have now,” he said. “They work really well and this will provide an increased level of protection with relatively minimal effort as compared to sandbagging. It’s a good temporary fix in the interim until the floodwall is constructed.”
The tubes stacked “one on top of two” will provide an extra 32 inches of flood protection.
Hogan says the installation of the tubes is relatively easy and residents who participated in a demonstration on how the flood tubes would work were able to assist in their installation without any trouble.
“The only concern I have with the tubes being used as a temporary fix is if the tubes become severely punctured or damaged during a flood event, the protection is lost,” Hogan said. “With a floodwall, it’s a permanent fix that will provide adequate protection to all of Des Allemands south of the railroad tracks along with the Sunset Drainage District.”
Hogan has been busy trying to secure the documents to get things started.
“Right now, I am in the process of securing the permits needed for the floodwall,” he said.
So far, Hogan has taken the first step, which was sending a letter to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to request permission to install the wall as required by the Natural Scenic River Act.
Hogan says because Bayou Des Allemands is included on a list of scenic waterways in the state, permission is needed before the parish can move forward with the project.
“The floodwall would start at the Southern Pacific Railroad and would end at the Sunset Drainage District levee, which is about 3,000 feet to the south of the railroad,” Hogan said.
Hogan says he agrees that the budget for all of St. Charles Parish’s projects is thin, but he says there are other ways to secure the funding for the floodwall if the council would decide not to use general funds.
“Sen. Mary Landrieu told us that St. Charles Parish should be receiving roughly $3 million annually because of offshore oil revenues,” he said. “With the oil prices steadily increasing the way they are, I would not be surprised to see this amount increase.”
Hogan says that the money can be used to bond out to cover the cost for flood protection and other projects in the parish.
“My suggestion at the committee meeting on June 10 was that the council consider taking the money to build the floodwall out of the general fund,” he said. “Right now, it is estimated that it will cost right around $3 to $4 million to build the wall.”
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