LAPLACE — In an effort to expedite the construction of the Hurricane Protection Levee in St. John the Baptist Parish, the Parish Council passed a resolution Tuesday imploring President Barack Obama and the United States Congress to expedite funding and construction.

“This project started over 44 years ago,” Parish President Natalie Robottom said. “After Hurricane Katrina hit, in addition to making some repairs in New Orleans, a levee was built from Orleans and Jefferson to St. Charles Parish. But they didn’t finish. They stopped in Montz. The next phase would have been through St. John and St. James.”

Progress on the levee was halted because alignment placement could not be agreed upon by different factors. Fortunately in 2008, a compromise was made.

“The problem with the alignment was, the official tier wanted the alignment to extend to the wetlands,” Robottom said. “The (US Army Corp of Engineers) wanted the levee to be up against the homes on the south side of the interstate, which would have left the interstate unprotected. We would have had a similar levee system that is in Lakeview, where tall pilings would be next to people’s homes, which would not have allowed for any type of retention should there be over topping.”

In the compromise, the alignment didn’t go out far into the wetlands, but it did protect the interstate system, which needs to be protected, according to Robottom, because it is an evacuation route.

Councilman Michael Wright said the alignment is basically the path of the levee.

“The levee will connect St. Charles Parish, hug the north side of St. John Parish and go into Garyville under the interstate,” Wright said.

It was only this year that the project was approved.

“In July 2015 we received an approved chief support, which is the requirement in order to have a federally built levee,” Robottom said. “Between 2012 (after Hurricane Isaac) and 2015, we worked very closely with the board and the Congressional delegation. I actually went to D.C. to testify before the committee that makes the decisions about approval of the levee.”

Since the project has been officially approved, it has to be authorized and funds need to be allocated by Congress, Robottom said.

The levee system is a $718 million project, and there are different ways the parish can get the funds.

“Typically, Corp projects are funded through a water resources bill, and those are passed every two years,” Robottom said. “The other alternative is working through (U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans) and President Obama, and possibly have this project included in his budget.”

During Tuesday’s Council meeting, Wright said parish board members approved a resolution urging the House of Representatives and the Senate to start securing and appropriating funds for the project’s construction.

Levee protection and flooding reduction are major points of interest for area residents after large portions of St. John the Baptist Parish were flooded due to rain that occurred last weekend.

“I think having a levee would prevent the type of flooding we experienced with the recent weather,” Wright said. “A levee system would have prevented that, because a lot of the problems we are having are tidal floods and heavy rain that can’t drain because of the high level of the lake and because there is no levee protection or barrier to be able to pump the water over and keep it from coming back in.”

Robottom said Parish homes and businesses remain at risk until a hurricane protection system is put in place.

“Basically it will help us because it will be a levee, but it will also have pumping stations,” she said. “When we get heavy rains, like we did Sunday, we typically drain into the lake by gravity. But when the lake is higher than our canals, we aren’t going to drain. In fact, the water comes into our parish. With the levee system in place, when we are dealing with rain water, we can pump it out. When we are dealing with storm surge, it will be kept out by the levee.”

Because construction of the levee could take 20 years to complete, Wright hopes funding is allocated soon.

“I would love to see appropriation around the beginning of next year,” Wright said. “That way we can start construction immediately. Until we receive Congressional appropriation, we aren’t going to be able to begin the project.”

By Raquel Derganz Baker