Bayou Chene project gets Corps permit

St. Mary Levee District officials announced Tuesday that the district has received the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulatory permit for construction of the Bayou Chene Flood Control and Diversion project.

The levee district will begin the final design of the levee and structures within the next few weeks in order to have the project ready for construction by the end of 2019, a district news release said.

The project involves installing a permanent floodgate on Bayou Chene in Amelia that can be closed to prevent backwater, riverine flooding in parts of six parishes. Officials had previously installed temporary flood protection structures in 1973, 2011 and 2016 to prevent flooding.

Funding for this regional project is to be provided by the state, Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority beginning in the early part of 2020, the release said.

District officials applied for the Corps permit in May 2013.

“This effort has been a long time coming and is vitally important to the entire region including parts of six neighboring parishes,” said Bill Hidalgo, levee district board president, in the release.

“This is a major milestone in the full development of this project. The St. Mary Levee District would like to thank all of our partners in helping to make this project a reality, including our local elected officials, the USACE, La. DNR and CPRA,” Hidalgo said.

The district’s legislative delegation, including state Sen. Bret Allain, Rep. Sam Jones and Rep. Beryl Amedee have been key advocates for securing funding for the project, the release stated.

The district received a state Department of Natural Resources coastal use project permit in September 2015, and the permit was later re-issued as modified in March 2018 to incorporate changes required by the Corps’ section 408 process.