5 waterways next to be cleared for flood prevention project

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - After 2016, officials gathered enough money to target five waterways to clear out in East Baton Rouge Parish.

Fifty miles of waterways need to be cleared out. The US Army Corps of Engineers is focusing on five major tributaries that drain three-quarters of East Baton Rouge Parish.

“You look at all this debris that was removed; these are all obstacles or obstructions,” said Congressman Garret Graves. “These are things that prevent this ditch, this canal from draining.”

The project will be focusing on de-snagging for Jones Creek, Ward Creek, Bayou Fountain, Blackwater, and Beaver Bayou. Two of those sub-basins are in the city of Central, which also saw major flooding in 2016.

“Back in 2016, it was around 55% of the homes across our city took on water,” said Central Mayor David Barrow. “So, that’s a tragic event and every time we have heavy rain storms, some people do stress out over it again.”

That’s the goal, to keep people safe when disaster strikes.

“It is part of an effort by our federal delegations for our state to make it less likely to flood, more resilient when hurricanes hit, and safer for families to live here,” added US Sen. Bill Cassidy.

This parish project will take about a quarter of a billion dollars. Officials are hoping this project will not only make a difference for EBR but for surrounding parishes, too.

“We provided funds on the same exact day for Livingston Parish for Livingston Parish to do cleaning and snagging. Four hundred-fifty miles of cleaning and snagging have taken place in Livingston Parish. We are still working on 50 miles here. We have got to have a process that reflects the urgency of the need,” explained Graves.

The EBR mayor’s office said it will continue to do more projects like this in the parish.

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