So Much Water, So Little Protection

SO MUCH WATER, SO LITTLE PROTECTION Since the 1970s, riverside communities in East Baton Rouge, Ascension and Livingston parishes have proposed various infrastructure to redirect, dam and pump water in the Amite River Basin. After the flood of 1983, specific engineering plans were drawn. However, to date, one project has been discarded and another stands incomplete. COMITE RIVER DARLINGTON DAM AND RESERVOIR DIVERSION CANAL EAST FELICIANA Plans, since scrapped, called for a dam of the Amite River on Since the 1980s, people have PARISH the East Feliciana-St. Helena parish line. Engineers said a dreamed of a 300-foot-wide massive reservoir would have protected downstream canal linking the Comite to communities like Denham Springs, but others pushed back the Mississippi River to 10 with concerns about costs, effectiveness and relocating protect Central, Baker and CLINTON floodplain residents. Zachary by draining water out of the basin. While a flood ST. HELENA GREENSBURG control structure has been PARISH built, none of the canal has Comite River been dug. RIVER CRESTS DURING FLOOD IN FEET Crest Flood stage ROSELANDReduction of crest if Comite Amite River Diversion was complete* Thompson SLAUGHTER 2 AMITE CITY Creek TANGIPAHOA PARISH 58.6 3 61 ZACHARY EAST BATON 46.2 55 ROUGE PARISH 48 1 -1.2 34.2 BAKER 4 -3.8 29 5 LIVINGSTON PARISH 21.5 Comite River 17.5 20 6 -0.6 1 9.2 Hurricane 2 ALBANY HAMMOND Creek 190 WALKER 9 8 190 12 4 110 61 3 DENHAM 190 SPRINGS Joor Magnolia Denham Bayou Port French 10 BATON ROUGE Road Bridge Springs Manchac PONCHATOULAVincent Settlement12 Jones Creek COMITE AMITE RIVER RIVER 10 Clay Cut Amite River Ward Creek Bayou Bayou Fountain PORT Colyell Creek VINCENT 4 5 Bayou Manchac Henderson Amite River Spanish Lake Bayou Floodgate FRENCH Floodgates SETTLEMENT Alligator Bayou PRAIRIEVILLE Arrows indicate Henderson Bayou 6 backwater flow. 61 Normally, the Black Bayou waterways flow New River Lake Maurepas ST. GABRIEL Laurel Ridge Levee Blind River into the Amite GONZALES River, but during ST. AMANT New River the flooding last ASCENSION Marvin Braud PARISH Canal week, water was Pumping Station 55 backing up into 10 SORRENTO those waterways. Mississippi River Bayou Conway Sorrento Pumping Station Lake Pont. ST. JOHN PARISH 10 ASCENSION DRAINAGE, LEVEE SYSTEM ST. JAMES PARISH Starting in the mid-1980s, Ascension Parish taxpayers began 61 paying for pump stations, floodgates and a levee system to RESERVE LAPLACE protect against high water in the Amite River Basin. All work GRAMERCY GARYVILLE together mostly to keep large portions of eastern Ascension, including Gonzlaes, Sorrento, St. Amant and parts of ST. CHARLES Prairieville, dry until the historic flooding last week PARISH overwhelmed the system without help farther upstream. Sources: USGS, National Weather Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, staff research *If storm were a 100-year event, at locations where data is available Advocate graphic by DAN SWENSON.

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