$100 M Bayou Chene project to get Restore Act funds

The Bayou Chene Flood Control and Diversion Project, aimed at protecting St. Mary and surrounding parishes from flooding, will receive settlement money from the 2010 BP oil spill to fund the more than $100 million project.
Legislators and other government officials held a news conference today at the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium to discuss the project's future. In July, the public learned that Louisiana would receive $6.8 billion in Restore Act funds, which came out of the settlement regarding the 2010 BP oil spill, St. Mary Levee District Commission President Bill Hidalgo said. Hidalgo also serves on the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board.
On Aug. 19, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority was notified that the Bayou Chene Flood Control and Diversion will receive money from one of the "buckets" of money in the Restore Act, Hidalgo said.
In 2011, when flood waters threatened St. Mary, Terrebonne and other parishes, the St. Mary Levee District worked to install a temporary structure that kept the area from "potentially catastrophic flooding," CPRA Chairman Chip Kline said.
Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, CPRA has worked to be "proactive" in implementing projects to protect "people's livelihoods." The Bayou Chene Flood Control and Diversion project is all about being proactive to provide flood protection and is a priority for CPRA, Kline said.
The project involves installing a permanent structure with a barge that can be sunk in the event of a flood to stop flood waters from traveling through Bayou Chene. The current plans for the project includes a 250-foot gate, which vessels can travel through except when the barge is sunk and structure closed, St. Mary Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte said.
The Bayou Chene project is estimated to cost $107.5 million. The project has "region wide benefits," and will prevent riverine, backwater flooding and storm surge flooding associated with hurricanes in St. Mary, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Martin, Assumption and Iberville parishes, Kline said.
The first money expected to be available to begin the project will be in January 2017, and Matte believes the St. Mary Levee District can have design of the Bayou Chene project finished by that time, he said.