Levee work may keep lid on flood insurance

With the completion of work to raise the Wax Lake East levees, which protect Berwick and Patterson, St. Mary Levee District officials plan to survey the levees next week to get them certified for flood insurance purposes.
On Thursday, the St. Mary Levee District commission authorized an elevation survey of the southern reach of the Wax Lake East levees for submission to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete its levee system evaluation report. Reid Miller of Miller Engineers will do the work at a cost of $6,660.
“This is to survey the entire length of the levee and make sure that it meets all the criteria that it needs to meet,” said St. Mary Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte.
In 2013, the corps found that the Wax Lake East levees were no longer “provisionally accredited,” though the most recent FEMA flood maps showed the levees were accredited for flood protection, Matte said.
In June, Miller reported that he had finished work to raise sections of a 2,700-foot stretch of the levees by one to two feet. That levee stretch is now raised to the “appropriate level,” Matte said.
Though Berwick and Patterson are protected by the levees, the deficiencies the corps identified in 2013 mainly affected Berwick, Matte said.
Once Miller completes that survey, the levee district will submit the survey to the corps, which will initiate the update of the Wax Lake East levee system evaluation report, Matte said. The corps will then be able to accredit the entire Wax Lake East levee system and send that information to FEMA.
FEMA can subsequently label the Wax Lake East levees as accredited for flood protection and no longer deficient, Matte said.
“Hopefully, that’ll take care of all of Berwick’s issues … and they can adopt their map as it was produced,” Matte said.
Berwick may possibly adopt new flood maps as early as 2016, he said.
“It should be good for the long haul,” Matte said.
Miller plans to begin the survey work Monday or Tuesday and have results by the end of next week, he said.
Also during the meeting, commissioners approved a request for additional services relating to the Bayou Chene Flood Control and Diversion project in the amount of $22,277 to address the Corps of Engineers’ questions in regards to modeling.
The estimated $107.5 million Bayou Chene project includes a permanent structure that will block Bayou Chene so that floodwaters cannot travel from Bayou Chene through Bayou Boeuf to Lake Palourde.
Engineer Jeff Peña of CB&I planned to submit mitigation contracts to the Department of Natural Resources today in order to get a DNR permit, he said.
At Thursday’s meeting, Peña said the construction finish date of the Franklin Canal Pump Station is still set for Sept. 29. The pump station includes four pump bays with two pumps. The station will allow water to be pumped out in the event the Franklin Canal Flood Control structure is closed.
By next week, the Mississippi River level in New Orleans is projected to be below 11 feet after dropping below 15 feet on Aug. 5, Matte said. Once the Mississippi River level dips under 11 feet, levee district officials can begin repairing some levee slides in the middle and west end of the parish.
Lastly, the commission approved cooperative endeavor agreements with the City of Morgan City, St. Mary Parish Consolidated Gravity Drainage District No. 2 and St. Mary Parish Government for the use of sheet pile from the levee district.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.