$3.75 million supports projects
By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – The slow-moving train to one day see major flooding improvements for St. Tammany Parish, and the Southeast Louisiana region, took a big step in the right direction last week when the parish was granted $3.75 million in federal funding for the Lake Pontchartrain Storm Surge Reduction Project and the St. Tammany Coastal Storm and Flood Risk Management Project.
It is the largest single flood reduction initiative in Louisiana history, something that began to be pushed by state officials after Hurricane Katrina roared through the Gulf Coast in August 2005, leaving behind billions of dollars in damage.
The St. Tammany Levee District, with support from St. Tammany Parish government, have been the leading voices in the effort to follow through on various proposals to create levees, barriers or other means of protecting homes in the event another Katrina comes through the area.
The $3.75 million is the first amount of money out of $6.5 million for the overall Rigolets barrier project, and will fund engineering and design of the two projects, which will eventually pave the way for $5.9 billion that was allocated by Congress for this region.
However, none of the actual billions to construct some kind of barriers or flood reduction plans will come until a plan is approved, something that continues to be argued by the Corps of Engineers officials, as well as officials with the Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority (CPRA). Several alignments of protection have been recommended so far.
Additionally, there is a separate Slidell Levee Project that has been drawn up and considered, but it leaves out protection for the Eden Isles area, as well as the multitude of high-priced homes in the Military Road area, which has led to criticism of the plan. Krieger said she is confident a new alignment will be decided on to include protection for those areas.
Going forward, said St. Tammany Levee District Chairman Suzanne Krieger, the next decisions to decide on the final project will be the goal, but for now, she said the release of the $3.75 million is great news for St. Tammany Parish.
“This is very exciting. We managed to get this done in two years and now it will be a matter of the key players—the Corps, CPRA and the Levee Board—to come to an agreement on the final plan and then get the federal dollars approved for the project,” she said.
St. Tammany Parish has also been heavily involved in the work and Parish President Mike Cooper agreed that the projects, although still likely to take 10 years or longer to ever be constructed, are moving forward for the good of parish residents.
“These two projects will have life-changing impacts for St. Tammany families for generations to come,” he said. Once completed, these projects are predicted to save our community billions of dollars in damage from flooding events.
The plans get started with an initial grant of $3.25 million that will be used to address vulnerabilities in the parish by constructing new levees in the Slidell area, elevating homes and enhancing existing drainage systems across the parish.
The Surge Reduction Project, commonly known as the Lake Pontchartrain Barrier Project, will receive $500,000 to move the six-decade-old initiative forward. The project would consist of storm surge reduction features at the Rigolets, which would substantially reduce flood risk for the entire North Shore area.
The $3.75 million will be used for the engineering and design of the two projects, determining where protections would be placed, simulating real hurricanes and examining impacts on local wetlands and fisheries.
“This is such an important step forward for hurricane risk reduction in St. Tammany, and reflects strong coordination at every level of government,” Krieger said.
According to CPRA, St. Tammany’s shoreline collectively has the highest risk for storm surge-based flooding in coastal Louisiana.
Together, these projects provide a layered approach to flood protection. One reduces storm surge before it enters the lake and the other projects what would happen in neighborhoods if surge or flooding still occurs.
“This funding helps keep both projects moving forward, so St. Tammany Parish is ready to advance to construction when larger funding becomes available,” Cooper added.
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