Locals: Invest in flood protection, dredging projects

Local officials encouraged the federal government to invest money now in flood protection and dredging projects that may save a lot of money later.
The Mississippi River Commission held a public meeting Friday at Garber Brothers’ dock in Berwick. Friday’s meeting was the last of seven meetings the commission has held over the past two weeks along the Mississippi River.
Duties of the commission include recommending policy and work programs, studying and reporting on the necessity for modifications or additions to the flood control and navigation project and making semi-annual inspection trips.
Maj. Gen. Michael Wehr, commander of the Mississippi Valley Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said that drainage, flood protection, dredging and the environment “go hand in hand because nature is not always nurturing,” Wehr said.
Wehr agrees with officials’ comments that millions of dollars of investment now could save billions of dollars later.
“That is the discussion that’s taking place, literally, up at GOHSEP (Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness),” Wehr said.
In a letter to the commission, St. Mary Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte said the permanent Bayou Chene flood protection structure is the best way to protect the area from flooding and should be included in the Mississippi River and Tributaries project.
Inclusion into the Mississippi River and Tributaries project would provide 100 percent federal funding for the estimated $70 million Bayou Chene project, Matte said. The levee district expects to get $40 million in Restore Act funding for the project.
The Bayou Chene project includes installing a floodgate on Bayou Chene that could be closed to protect up to six parishes from flooding. The project also requires work on nearby Avoca Island.
High water in 2011 and in early 2016 proved the need for back water flood protection for the region, Matte said.
The levee district has be-gun the design of the structure in an effort to get the project constructed as soon as possible. Officials hope to start construction in April 2017.
During the meeting, Port of Morgan City Economic Development Manager Cindy Cutrera, who also serves on the Inland River Ports and Terminals Commission, said unreliable depth in the Atchafalaya River Bar Channel “will kill navigation and our local economies up and down the river system.”.
The Bar Channel is congressionally authorized to be 20 feet deep. But mud quickly builds up in the channel, making navigation for some vessels extremely difficult or impossible. Officials are trying to find a way to keep the channel at its authorized depth year-round.
From June 4 to Aug. 15, port officials did a dredging demonstration in the Bar Channel, agitating and dis-posing of material over the side of the dredge, Port Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade stated in his presentation.
The demonstration showed that constant agitation lowers the mud line from 18 feet to 19 feet for 95 percent of the Bar Channel.
Sediment in the Bar Channel has severely affected port’s import-export business and have limited the port’s ability to attract new customers, Wade said.
Cutrera wants officials to work with Congress to get “a more predictable funding stream to operate locks and dams and for maintenance for channel dredging and navigation.”
Commissioner Sam Angel said he hopes Congress will pass a resolution that would lift earmarks on federal appropriations for Corps of Engineers’ water resource development projects and restore the authority of Congress to use funds for state and local projects and “limit executive power.”
Commissioner R.D. James said the biggest problem with getting projects completed is Congress “not doing its duty on funding.”
With Corps’ reduced funding to pay for projects, Com-missioner Norma Jean Mattei said it might be time to start funding flood protection “projects that will get us part of the way so that we can start getting to where we really need to be.”