LAPLACE — The Chief’s Report is in, and it’s good news for St. John the Baptist Parish.

Parish President Natalie Robottom announced this morning the federal report outlining $718 million in levee protection for greater St. John Parish received approval and has been returned to the New Orleans office of the Army Corps of Engineer Civil Works Review Board.

“It’s not over,” Robottom said. “Now we need to work with our delegation to make sure it’s funded and then we can build that project.”

More than 17,000 structures from Montz to Garyville would be protected through construction of the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain hurricane risk reduction project levee.

In December the Army Corps of Engineer Civil Works Review Board unanimously approved release of the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain final integrated feasibility report and environmental impact statement for state and agency review.

Robottom and members of the Parish Council defended and supported the recommended plan before the Civil Works Review Board during a September trip to Washington D.C. In October, the project was delayed while district representatives addressed concerns in the draft report.

The Army Corps of Engineers confirmed a tentatively selected plan to build storm protections measures for the River Parishes in November 2013. The selected plan, named Alternative C, is 18 miles in length and would protect Montz, LaPlace, Reserve and Garyville.

The levee would run between the Bonnet Carre Spillway in Montz and the Hope Canal in Garyville and would provide risk reduction for approximately 60,000 residents.