Friday July 8, 2022
Avoyelles Parish
Mansura LA
St Landry Parish asked that DTV be present at a meeting in Avoyelles Parish hosted by the Avoyelles Parish Police Jury (PJ) regarding several drainage projects they the PJ has funded that will probably send water that may affect areas south downstream including St Landry, St Martin, Lafayette, and Vermilion Parishes. Attending were representatives from St. Landry, Lafayette, and Avoyelles Parishes in addition to a number of board members from DTV.
Civil Works Director for Avoyelles Parish Mr. Kevin Bordelon presented 4 projects , 2 are diversions to the Atchafalaya River that will benefit parishes downstream. One project involves a diversion of flows from Alexandria in the Chatlin Lake canal and sending it to the Spring Bayou WMA and then the Atchafalaya River. The other connects Bayou Des Glacies Diversion to the main Bayou Des Glacies then to the Atchafalaya River near Simmesport avoiding a 25 mile loop around the Big Ben area. Both these projects should help with diverting water on the east side of the watershed to the river vs. sending it south to Bayou Courtableau and the south area of our watershed.
The other 2 projects will send water to Bayou Courtableau. We advised Courtableau is already overwhelmed with too much water entering the bayou from the northern areas of the watershed. DTV is confident his will be worked out in a satisfactory manner.
Avoyelles Parish wants to meet again in Lafayette with ALL the affected parishes maybe as early as fall when next phase of LWI projects are decided upon. .
DTV presented the list of the regional projects we are tracking as wells as their current status. The list of projects and maps of the watershed with mentioned projects are below:
Regional Projects and Recommendations to Lower Water Stages in the Teche-Vermilion Watershed
Rapides and Evangeline Parish
1. Replace drainage gate for Lake Cocodrie. Funded by LWI and managed by DOTD. In bid process. Expected to begin construction in early 2023.
2. Revise pool stage on Lake Cocodrie to provide potentially up to 100,000 acre feet of regional retention in the northwest of the watershed. Proposed by DTV.
Avoyelles Parish
3. Provide a replacement for the closed Bayou Des Glasises flood gate near Bordelonville in Avoyelles Parish or construct a new channel connecting the Bayou to the Atchafalaya River. Proposed by DTV.
St Landry and St Martin Parishes
4. Regap the Enterprise Dixie Pipeline spoil banks south of the Bayou Courtableau Floodgates located in both St Landry and St Martin Parishes to allow flood flows to move efficiently south to Henderson Lake. In progress as a CPRA managed project with completion schedule EOY 2022.
St Landry Parish
5. LA DOTD / RRABB Levee Board has a project to design and install of a new flood and freshwater gate between Bayou Courtableau and Bayou Amy at the Borrow Pit Levee immediately east of the Bayou Courtableau overflow weirs. This is particularly urgent as LA DOTD is replacing gates on Lake Cocodrie that they plan on utilizing during flood threats. The water released into Bayou Cocodrie in this operation will end up in Bayou Courtableau further overwhelming Bayou Courtableau unless this additional drainage path is provided. DOTD has funded for study and design of gate.
6. Reestablish connectivity of Bayou Courtableau to the Atchafalaya river south of Krotz Springs by installing a flood gate in the inside guide levee. Proposed by DTV
7. Clear, Snag, and potentially extend Grimmet Canal South in the West Atchafalaya Foodway to ensure flood flows can move efficiently from the Bayou Courtableau Floodgates to lower Henderson Lake. Proposed by DTV
8. Reevaluate/revise the operating guidelines for the Teche-Vermilion Freshwater District (TVFD) in particular focusing on the evaluation of the viability of maintaining the pool stages of Bayou Courtableau at a lower level. Operating the bayou at a lower level would increase retention in overflow swamps in the upper and central watershed reducing flood risks for the entire watershed. Proposed by DTV
St Martin Parish
9. Lafayette Consolidated Government completed a project to remove a spoil bank in St Martin Parish in the Cypress Island Swamp (AKA Bayou Tortue Swamp). Removing this spoil returned the river bank to it’s natural elevation prior to the original USACE dredging of the river in the 1950’s allowing flood flows to quickly disburse into the swamp lowering peak crests experienced on the river during certain flood events.
10. Complete the St. Martin Parish project of dredging the Joe Daigle canal that connects the Cypress coulee to Bayou Teche south of the Keystone Dam. Clearing and snagging Phase 1 complete with channel dredging scheduled for completion EOY 2022. Phase 2 has started with clearing spoil disposition area.
11. Complete the St. Martin Parish dredging project in Cathoula Lake to improve drainage between Bayous Berard and Amy down to Lake Dautrive. In progress completion fall of 2022.
12. Replace or remove the obsolete and unreliable Lower Henderson Lake Gates. Proposed by DTV
13. Evaluate the feasibility to utilize Lake Martin in St. Martin Parish as a regional retention asset. This could potentially be accomplished by the addition of a flood gate between the lake and the Ruth Canal. . Proposed by DTV
Lafayette Parish
14. Clear and snag the Vermilion River and spot dredge shoals near the confluence of Coulee Mine and the river. Scheduled for completion EOY 2022.
15. Complete in progress the Bayou Vermilion Flood Control project including retention ponds projects related to Coulee Ill des Cannes and near the LFT airport. Some ponds will be in service EOY 2022.
Lafayette and Vermilion Parishes
16. Maintenance dredge the Vermilion River to the depth and width of the original 1950s navigation dredging by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Further to conduct an annual inspection to insure that this bayou depth and width is maintained. Scheduled for USACE Work Plan 2024.
17. Evaluate the feasibility of the installation of a channel training weir in the Vermilion River at the confluence of the river and Coulee Ill des Cannes. During flood flows the coulee’s flood flows form a “water dam” blocking the river from draining south to Vermilion Bay. If the evaluation supports installation of this weir, construct the weir. Proposed by DTV.
St Mary Parish
18. Maintenance dredge the principal outlet of the Teche-Vermilion System, The Jaws Outlet, to West Cote Blanche Bay. This critical drainage channel is presently closed due to extreme silting creating shoals that restrict flood flows as well as forcing water 20 plus miles west to Vermilion Bay.
Teche Vermilion Watershed
19. A beaver infestation survey will be conducted starting in 4 overflow swamps in St Landry Parish connected to the Bayous Courtableau, Waukesha, Boeuf, and Cocodrie watersheds as a pilot to determine how much natural retention is held up by the infestations. We anticipate this survey to be conducted fall-winter 2022. If the infestations are significant we will ask each parish to initiate a survey and take appropriate actions to restore retention. St Landry Parish and DTV.
US Army Corps of Engineers
20. Encouraging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete the pending “Alexandria to the Gulf” study effort as soon as possible and address issues discovered by the study that hinder flood flows in the West Atchafalaya Floodway.
21. Expand the scope of the pending “Alexandria to the Gulf” study effort to include areas and parishes outside of the West Atchafalaya Floodway including but not limited to Rapides and Evangeline Parishes.
22. Request the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine the viability, functionality, and utility of the Keystone Locks and Dam on Bayou Teche south of St. Martinville. Proposed by DTV.
23. Development of and execution of a Regional Flood Prevention Command and Control Operational Plan with assignment of responsibilities identified in the plan to an entity(s) responsible for execution during a threat event. The objective of this plan is to coordinate efforts of the entities that control existing and future flood management resources. A draft of a plan has been written and submitted to the entities for adoption. Proposed by DTV.
Notes:
Identified and proposed projects will require some level of engineering, design, modeling and permits before being submitted for funding.
Please note many of the above project recommendations were derived from projects documented in USACE correspondence or projects proposed by or to local parish officials and residents.
Northern Teche Vermilion Watershed Project Locations
Southern Teche Vermilion Watershed Project Locations
The following was posted on Facebook by Jacob Coco PJ District 9 after the meeting:
“This morning I hosted a follow up drainage meeting from the one I hosted last week. We had officials from St Landry Parish, St Martin Parish, Lafayette Parish and Avoyelles Parish. The only way to drain our parish is we have to work with our neighboring parishes. There was a lot of good solutions and projects discussed. We will be putting a plan together and I will be submitting them to the state watershed. I’m glad to see us having these meetings during dry spell rather than flooding. At the end of the day our goal is to mitigate flooding in our parish. Thanks to all who attended, it was a great meeting.”
Net-Net DTV believes meeting was very good and everyone acknowledges it is important to cooperate and to support each other’s projects that have regional impact.
𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧
Dredge the Vermilion (DTV) is a non-profit 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 on Facebook(search “Dredge the Vermilion”) 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.