River to crest Friday; uncertain what rest of spring may hold

The Atchafalaya River is projected to crest at 7.2 feet Friday morning in Morgan City, but it’s unclear yet whether the area may see another similar crest later in the spring.
Heavy rain in northwest Louisiana in the past few weeks caused more water to go into the Red River and subsequently a rise of the Atchafalaya River at Morgan City, National Weather Service Meteorologist Roger Erickson said.
As of 7 a.m. today, the river was at 6.75 feet in Morgan City, according to the National Weather Service.
The Atchafalaya region typically sees a river rise in the spring due to snow melting in the north central U.S., Erickson said. But this crest is different in that the cause is mainly rainfall in northwest Louisiana, he said.
It’s still too early to say what level the river may reach later this spring, but nothing so far indicates another crest near Friday’s mark, Erickson said.
Another heavy rain, for example, in the Memphis area could cause another similar crest, but forecasters don’t know weeks or months in advance where “a bull’s-eye of rain” could occur, Erickson said.
Erickson expects the Atchafalaya River to fall slowly, and the river level to stay above 6 feet all of next week. Two weeks ago, forecasters were predicting the Atchafalaya to crest near 8 feet, but lowered that projection.
With the river rise, Berwick officials have closed seven floodgates, while Morgan City closed just the Freret Street gate. Morgan City officials don’t expect to close any more gates, but are monitoring the river levels to determine if any more closures are necessary, Chief Administrative Officer Marc Folse said.
The temporary Bayou Chene flood protection structure that St. Mary Levee District officials installed in January is still in place. The structure includes a barge surrounded by steel sheet pilings in Bayou Chene near Amelia to block the bayou and protect up to six parishes from flooding. The river crested at about 8.2 feet Jan. 23.
Levee district officials have applied for an emergency permit to remove the temporary structure, Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte said. The levee district wants to get approval to leave a 250-foot opening on Bayou Chene instead of the 450-foot opening left after the 2011 flood fight, he said.
Leaving more material in place would allow the district to more quickly block Bayou Chene when deemed necessary and spend less money, Matte said. Officials want to leave as much of the sheet pilings in place as possible and store the rest of material until work begins on the permanent Bayou Chene Flood Control and Diversion Project.
No decision has been reached yet on the removal process for the temporary structure, Matte said. Officials are at least two months away from being able to remove the structure, he said.
Matte is optimistic that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will allow officials to leave a 250-foot opening because the levee district has already received lots of support from industry to allow that width opening for the permanent project, he said.
Construction on the permanent Bayou Chene project should start once Restore Act funds from the 2010 BP oil spill become available. Officials don’t know yet when those Restore Act funds may become available, but the levee district plans to have design work finished on the permanent project by April 2017 in anticipation of receiving the money, Matte said.