Dredge the Vermilion meets with St. Martin Parish Officials Regarding Regional Flood Mitigation Projects

Aug 4, 2021 | Uncategorized

July 20 2021
St. Martinville LA
Board Members from Dredge the Vermilion (DTV) met with St. Martin Parish Officials regarding our recommendations for regional flood mitigation projects and how those projects would benefit the watershed and in particular St Martin Parish.
Attending for St. Martin Parish was Parish President Chester Cedars, Chairman of the Parish Council Chris Tauzin , and Public Works Director Kasey Courville. Attending for DTV was President Dave Dixon, Vice President Harold Schoeffler, Sec-Treasurer Brent Logan , and Board Member Jeffery Svendson.
Our objectives were to brief St. Martin regarding flood management projects and their status in other parishes as well as reviewing DTV’s analysis of the Vermilion River Spot Dredging Project and the Spoil Bank Removal Project in St. Martin being permitted by LCG. Historical level and flow data was presented with and explanation how these two projects would decrease crest levels seen on the river and in Cypress Island in a flood event.

A second objective was to have a continuous dialog and communications with our neighboring parishes regarding these projects with an effort to clear up any misunderstanding regarding the benefits of the projects and to ensure our neighbors that DTV will only promote projects that meet our Guiding Principals which are as follows:.

  1. UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM!
  2. DO NO HARM!
  3. Maximize Potential for Overflow Swamps to act as Natural Flood Plains
  4. Remove obstructions to flood flows
  5. Divert flood waters where possible
  6. Projects should strive to improve Water Quality and Wildlife Habitat
  7. Establish Formal Watershed Level Flood Management Team

 

St Martin reported 2 key regional projects are on track to break ground this year. The projects include the Phase 1 Joe Daigle Canal Dredging Project which will improve drainage in the eastern area of Cypress Island and provide a second viable drain for the overflow swamp allowing more water to drain into Bayou Teche vs. most of this water ending up in the Vermilion River.

Also scheduled to break ground is the dredging of Catahoula Lake and it’s drains into Lake Dautrive. This is one of the main drain paths for the watershed and the channels are silted up restricting flood flows.

A𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧
Dredge the Vermilion (DTV) is a non-profit 501(C)(3) setup to inform the public about the need to identify and to perform regional drainage projects in the Teche-Vermilion watershed.
The board of DTV are all citizen volunteers with varying backgrounds from engineering, business owners, business management, medical, and legal.
If you wish to help with our efforts please like and share our posts and please see our website at www.dredgethevermilion.org if you would like to make a donation. All donations help fund our website, Facebook and other marketing efforts, public outreach, and research.