Posted on February 2, 2022
NEW ORLEANS – Friday Lt. Gen. Scott Spellman, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commanding general and 55th Chief of Engineers, signed the Upper Barataria Basin, Louisiana Chief of Engineers’ Report for transmission to Congress.
The final report proposes a structural alignment constructed to a 1 percent Annual Exceedance Probability from Luling to near Raceland that is approximately 30 miles in length and includes levees, floodwalls, and a barge gate. The system will be built using the post-Katrina Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction specifications to a minimum elevation of 14-feet.
Additionally, the Upper Barataria Basin, Louisiana Feasibility Study received $8 million in funds from the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 to initiate and complete the preconstruction engineering and design phase. This advanced funding improves USACE’s ability to move quickly to construction if the proposed project receives authorization and appropriations.
The Upper Barataria Basin, Louisiana project will provide hurricane and storm surge damage risk reduction measures in the 800 square mile study area located in Ascension, Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist Parishes.
The Upper Barataria Basin, Louisiana Feasibility Study began in late 2018 with 100 percent federal funding from the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority as the nonfederal sponsor.
To begin construction on the Upper Barataria Basin, Louisiana project, Congressional authorization and appropriation is needed.
The final report and supporting documents can be found on the New Orleans District website here: https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/About/Projects/BBA-2018/studies/Upper-Barataria-Louisiana/
