Federal researchers want more time to develop a Northshore flood fighting plan.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, received an exemption for additional time and funding for the St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana Feasibility Study. Officials say they need more time to further refine the Tentatively Selected Plan.
"The TSP recommended approximately 14 miles of levees and 2 miles of floodwall in Slidell, clearing and snagging of Bayou Patassat, channel improvements in Mile Branch, and elevations and floodproofing for approximately 8,500 structures located in the 50-year flood plain at an estimated total cost of $4 billion," according to an Army Corps of Engineers news release.
The exemption gives engineers an additional 16 months and $1.77 million.
They say it will allow them to "further optimize efficiency and design of the recommended levee alignment, including segments along Military Road, and Big Branch Wildlife Refuge to optimize risk reduction in the area and reduce impacts to the refuge."
The plan will now go through another public review period in the summer of 2023 with the final report submitted in spring of 2024.
"The goal of the St. Tammany Parish Study is to develop alternatives to reduce flood damages caused by hurricane and rainfall events. The study was initiated in January 2020 following execution of the Feasibility Cost Share agreement with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board and is fully federally funded, including the exemption, by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018."
For more information on the St. Tammany, Louisiana Feasibility Study visit: https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/About/Projects/BBA-2018/studies/St-Tammany/
