By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

NORCO – Despite the fact that more than 300,000 cubic feet of water per second are surging from the Mississippi River into Lake Pontchartrain via the Bonnet Carre Spillway, the newly opened Wetland Watcher Park in St. Charles Parish has stayed relatively high and dry.

Barry Guillot, a Harry Hurst Middle School teacher and project coordinator for the school’s Wetland Watchers, said the park is situated outside the spillway guide levee and therefore protected from the surge of water flowing through the area. Guillot added that the land the park is built on is actually about five feet above sea level.

“Even if the lake were to rise because of the water flow, the park would still be protected,” Guillot said. “We are high and dry.”

Guillot said in the days after the spillway was opened, his inbox was flooded with emails inquiring about the status of the park, which celebrated its grand opening late last year. He said there is currently no flooding and none is expected throughout the duration of the spillway opening.

“It is amazing that so many people, from all over the country, have taken the time to email about the park,” said Guillot. “I’ve even got an email from someone in Canada that visited the park last year asking how this would impact the area.”

Guillot said he has not yet seen the park first hand, since access to the guide levee road is currently restricted, but said a recent helicopter flyover showed the park in perfect condition.

The 28-acre park is part of the St. Charles Parish Department of Parks and Recreation. The Pontchartrain Levee District donated the land for the park to the parish in 2004 after students from Harry Hurst, led by Guillot and local environmentalist Milton Cambre, worked to clear the area of trash and other debris so it could become an outdoor classroom.