When the Southeast Lou isiana Flood Control (SELA) projects began more than a decade ago, they were designed to improve the drainage canals and the pump stations’ pumping capacity and al leviate flooding caused by major rain events such as the May 1995 flood. Work on drainage im prove ments continues and as it stands now, Jefferson Parish SELA projects will continue at least through 2013.
To date, SELA has completed 37 projects with 6 now under construction and many more in the design or planning phase. Currently, SELA has funded more than 0 million in drainage projects in Jefferson Parish. Over the next few years, additional investments will be made to the SELA Program, increasing the ex penditures on SELA related drainage projects in Jefferson Parish to a total of 1.7 million. SELA projects cover major drainage and pump station improvements that work in coordination with the Jefferson Parish Drainage Department’s subsurface drainage system. This complex network of subsurface drainage is he parish drainage system and SELA projects are critical during heavy rain events, particularly during hurricanes; therefore pump stations and debris removing equipment will be monitored around the clock from strategically located safe rooms.
To date, 13 safe rooms have been built in Jefferson Parish allowing pump station operators to stay on-site during a hurricane to operate the drainage pumps as necessary during the event. Construction of the last five of those safe rooms and installation of additional remote controls provide control of 15 major pump stations from the safe rooms. The pump stations are equipped with cameras and sensors, and pumps can be monitored and operated from safe rooms through fiber optic signals that operate valves and other equipment.
The construction of the last 5 safe rooms and installation of the additional remote controls were financed by the Army Corps of Engineers as part of Jefferson Parish Pump Station Storm Proofing Project. This concept is efficient, economical, allows operation during a storm event and lessens the response time after the storm passes. constantly being improved by Jefferson Parish, as are the Army Corps of Engineers’ Hurricane Flood Protection System of levees and floodgates that are overseen by the East and West Bank Levee Districts.
There will, however, be a few changes in the way SELA projects will be funded. Up until this point, Jefferson Parish had to, on a yearly basis, come up with its 25 percent match while the Federal Government provided the remaining 75 percent for each construction project. The new requirements call for a 35 percent match by the parish which equates to an estimated 0 million parish share of remaining work; however before leaving office, President George W. Bush approved a “30 - year pay back” agreement for the parish’s portion. Therefore the Federal Government will initially fund the remaining SELA construction work 100% and the parish will be allowed 30 years to pay back its 35 percent share.
The authorization that provided the new funding also made changes in who signed the Project Partnership Agreement (PPA). In the past, agreements for SELA work were between the parish and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). However as the result of Hurricane Katrina the Corps decided that it wanted to deal with a single state entity on all hurricane or drain age related projects. Therefore the PPA for the remaining SELA work will be between the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection And Restoration Authority (CPRA) and the Corps. Jefferson Parish will interact with the Corps basically as they always have only now acting as the agent of the State of Louisiana.
It’s positive news for projects such as the Harahan Pump to the River. The initial .5 million phase to install 700 feet of discharge tubes under the proposed extension of Dickory Avenue has been completed. Detailed design reports for the total project have finalized and final design of two more features of the project is underway. On the west bank, the soon-to-be completed million Cousins Pump Station upgrade, part of the Westbank Hurricane Protect ion Project, will increase the pumping capacity of the Station by 2000 cubic feet per second (cfs). The upgrade of this station was required to accommodate the flood control gates in the Harvey Canal. The Hurricane Protection Project will fund 1000 (cfs) of the capacity increase and the SELA Project will fund the other 1000 (cfs). The West Jefferson Levee District provided the design work and the Corps of Engineers is constructing
the station.
