After the August 2016 flood, a trending topic was one long-delayed diversion canal some say could have helped lessen the damaging floodwaters. But as 225 reports, the project isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
In 1992, Congress approved the Comite River Diversion Canal project in response to a major flood almost a decade before. The canal would help protect the towns of Zachary, Baker, Central, Denham Springs and other residential areas in the lower Comite and Amite river basins by shifting floodwaters from the Comite directly west to the Mississippi River. The designed canal is 8 miles long, with an average depth of 15 feet and average width of 40 feet, and would be capable of moving 20,000 cubic feet of water per second.
But 25 years later, only one component has been constructed. The rest are still on paper.
The biggest problem facing the project is inconsistent and insufficient federal funds, according to a Jan. 18 Legislative Auditor’s report. In most years since the project was authorized, annual federal funding to the Corps wasn’t even enough to put a component of the project out for construction bids, so the money was used for design work. In 2011 and 2012, the funding was transferred to other Corps projects because it hadn’t been used.
At a task force meeting Jan. 25, some suggested removing the Corps from the project and finding another partner, using state bonds instead of federal dollars to fund completion. Most officials agreed the August 2016 flood would have exceeded the canal’s capacity but still consider it one of the biggest flood-control priorities in the region.
Read the full story, which includes an interactive infographic about the work required to build the diversion canal.
