House committee vote, WRDA inclusion sit on horizon for flood protection

LAPLACE — Convincing members of a U.S. House of Representatives Committee that minimum safety for St. John the Baptist Parish residents includes construction of a levee system is the next step for local leaders looking to enhance flood protection.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 19-1 Thursday in favor of the Westshore Lake Pontchartrain Levee Project, and St. John the Baptist Parish President Natalie Robottom said the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee  is expected to vote on the same measure within three weeks.

Parish leaders said the project would protect the East Bank of St. John Parish, in addition to parts of St. Charles and St. James Parishes.

“I spoke with Congressman (Cedric) Richmond, who said they have already started the dialogue in the House,” Robottom said.

Robottom said U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-Baton Rouge) is St. John’s ally in the House.

“The committee is made up of 60 members before it goes to the full House,” Robottom said. “We are going to work through Congressman Graves and the other delegates to make sure all of their colleagues are familiar with what’s happening so we can get their support.”

Should the Levee Project pass House approval, local leaders said it must be added to the Water Resources Development Act of 2016, or WRDA bill.

St. John Councilman Buddy Boe, who was with Robottom in Washington last week, said if the bill passes in the House Committee, it’s likely to be approved by the full House and Senate when they vote on it.

“They are in an every two year cycle for doing a WRDA bill,” he said. “Our hope is to get into the WRDA bill of 2016 and get it signed by the president before the end of the year and before there is a change in the Administration and Congress.”

With this year being an election year, Boe said officials anticipate the bill going through because it authorizes and approves many projects across the nation that are vitally important to ports, roads, docks, rivers and flood protection.

“It’s a good bill,” Boe said. “We’re hoping that the election momentum carries this bill through for us. It’s a major achievement if we’re in this WRDA bill. Our next step after that is then to have the Corps start asking for money every year to build the system. They need Congress to authorize it first. After that, the Corps can put it into their annual budget requests for whatever they need that coming year to do whichever phase of the large project that we are working on.”

Boe said he is also submitting a resolution to the St. John Council, asking Council members May 10 to consider establishing a Flood Protection Committee made up of Council members.

“The goal isn’t to just have a committee to have a committee,” Boe said. “This committee will only focus on the flood protection system and getting it designed and into construction. We feel very good that this is one of those projects that has full support from the Administration and the Council.”

Boe said the new Westshore Lake Pontchartrain Levee Project is a massive system that to be permitted, designed and mitigated before anyone can put the first load of dirt down on the ground.

“I think if the stars align and all partners came to the table, we can get the first load of dirt down within the next three to five years,” he said.