October 27, 2016
By: Sean Ellis, HoumaToday.com
Gov. John Bel Edwards praised local officials today for their vision in constructing the Morganza-to-the Gulf levee system during a dedication ceremony for the Bayou Little Caillou Floodgate.
“You have to see there’s a need for something and come up with a plan. … That’s what’s exciting today is we’re right here next to a $20 million investment,” he said.
Edwards commended Terrebonne Parish and the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District and noted how parish residents agreed to tax themselves to raise more than $170 million for the Morganza project.
“It would not have happened without the leadership of a lot of people. There’s no area of the state that’s doing that better today than right here in Terrebonne Parish,” Edwards said, “To go out and raise money through sales taxes and a millage and to spend that money without waiting on the federal government, but spend that money so you meet the federal standards so that the people who are paying for it will get the benefit of that standard. That is bold leadership.”
The $20 million floodgate in Bayou Little Caillou, which also includes a road gate on La. 56, just 4.5 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to protect Cocodrie, is the southernmost point of the Morganza system. It is located about a half-mile south of Bayou Sale Road, is 110 feet wide and rises 18 feet above the water.
Terrebonne Levee Director Reggie Dupre said the success with the Morganza system and other projects for flood protection in the parish are the legacy of a “30-year struggle” that began with Hurricane Juan. It became a hurricane on Oct. 27, 1985, before making landfall in Morgan City two days later.
The South Terrebonne Tidewater District was created by the late state Sen. Leonard Chabert following the storm to improve flood protection in the parish.
