Yokely Levee extension plugs gap in the system

When state and local officials gathered Wednesday to cut a ribbon for the Yokely Levee extension project, they celebrated the plugging of a gap in the west St. Mary flood control system.

The $2 million project was funded with money generated by the federal Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act and administered by the state.

Not only does it fill that gap, but it eliminates some inefficiency in the flood control system, said Tim Matte, director of the St. Mary Parish Levee District.

Here, according to the district's website, is what the extension project was about:

"The Yokely extension connects to the end of the federal Yokely levee and extends to high ground following the Charenton Canal going north.

"The flood protection is to 10.5 feet and includes earthen levees, removable floodwalls and canal gates.

"This project in conjunction with the Bayou Teche Floodgate closes the gap to create continuous flood protection from the Wax Lake Outlet to the Charenton Canal. This removable floodwall can be deployed in under six hours."

Gates give the district the ability to close the Yellow Bayou, Franklin and Hanson canals.

The extension also eliminates a situation in which flood control pumps in Franklin might pump water out into the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, only to see it threaten local flooding as it flows back through the Charenton Canal, Matte said.

State Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, cut the ribbon at the Nov. 9 ceremony. Other dignitaries included Chip Kline, director of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority; Parish President David Hanagriff and Chief Administrative Officer
Henry C. "Bo" LaGrange; Parish Councilman Rodney Olander; Franklin Mayor Eugene Foulcard; Matte; and Levee District board members Will Terry. Junius "J.P." Hebert and Kenneth Arceneaux.

The project is the latest in a series of flood-control improvements by the district. In November 2021, the Teche flood structure was completed. It was an $11.4 million project funded with a Department of Transportation and Development matching grant. It's designed to keep any storm surge generated by tropical weather from flowing up the Charenton Canal into the Teche.

In April 2022, a ribbon-cutting marked the opening of the Bayou Chene Flood Control Structure, an $80 million project funding through the CPRA. That work was designed to end back-flooding when the Atchafalaya River runs high.