$12 Million To Be Dedicated to St. Tammany Waterway Clearing Project
There will be $12.6 million of federal money given to St. Tammany Parish government to help clean waterways from the aftereffects of Hurricane Ida. The money will be used to remove the hills of collected debris that are clogging the waterways all around St. Tammany parish due to Hurricane Ida.
Sites that are to be cleaned will include the Tchefuncte River, Abita River, Bogue Falaya, Little Bogue Falaya, Savannah Branch, Soap and Tallo Creeks, Liberty Bayou, Cypress and other spots around the parish. The parish does not know when the work will begin and still has to get state and environmental permit approvals.
“If it was up to us, we would have started yesterday,” Michael Vinsanau, a spokesperson for St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper said.
This is a vital project because clearing will help St. Tammany prepare for this hurricane season which began in June. Hurricane Ida caused floodwaters to be pushed all into areas of the parish and tore down thousands of trees in the community. The down trees caused over 2 million cubic yards of debris piled on the streets of St. Tammany parish. Clearing the debris that is backing up the waterways will help alleviate drainage and flooding issues that are going on right now.
The $12.6 million will be given to the parish from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Emergency Watershed Program. St. Tammany will have to produce a 10% local match which will be taken from St. Tammany’s Drainage Maintenance Capital Project Fund.
