With a host of state and congressional leaders pleading the case, Louisiana has finally secured the federal funds necessary to complete the long-delayed Comite River Diversion Canal. The sought-after funding is part of a $1.4 billion package from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be used for flood and hurricane protection projects throughout the state, but there is still no deadline for when the canal will be built.
A lack of funding has long hampered the Comite River Diversion Canal, but the project regained some urgency after the August 2016 flooding. The 12-mile canal is supposed to provide flood protection to the Lower Comite and Lower Amite River Basins, benefiting areas such as Central, Port Vincent, Denham Springs, Baker and Zachary. The canal would reduce flood stages at areas within the basins by diverting water from the Comite River and three bayous to the Mississippi River.
In May 2016, the Amite River Basin Commission had purchased 360 acres of land in the McHugh Swamp area for the project, the commission followed up by acquiring another 300 plus acres in 2017 and 89 acres earlier this year, with officials saying that but for lack of funding and permitting, construction could begin within a year.
Congress originally authorized the Comite River Diversion Canal in 1992 in response to The Great Flood of 1983. In January of last year, a Louisiana Legislative Auditor report said the project was supposed to be completed in 2012 at a cost of $153 million.
The project cost has since escalated to $343 million and, thus far, there’s little information regarding how quickly the canal could be completed.
