State considering fronting cash for Baton Rouge drainage projects

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The state is considering fronting cash for five key East Baton Rouge Parish drainage projects which have stalled for lack of funds.

More than $250 million meant for flood control projects in East Baton Rouge Parish is sitting in the nation’s capital, waiting to be unlocked by state or local government.

Parish officials must find $40 million in matching dollars to get that federal cash, earmarked as part of a $1.4 billion package Congress approved in 2018. That deal also made funding whole for the Comite River Diversion Canal project.

“No government entity is sitting on $40 million. I mean, $40 million is huge,” EBR Chief Administrative Officer Darryl Gissel said. “People would probably be mad if we were actually sitting on that amount of money.”

Since December of 2018, Gissel says Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, Governor John Bel Edwards, and U.S. Representative Garret Graves have worked closely to identify a funding source.

On Thursday, Aug. 1, the governor’s office confirmed it’s considering fronting the money through the capital outlay process or with not yet recognized state surplus. Both of those options would not be available until spring of 2020.

“She feels like we’re really close,” Gissel said of Broome’s hopes. “It’s a hot topic."

Broome, Graves, and Edwards are scheduled for another meeting the week of Aug. 5.

Here are the planned projects, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:

• Jones Creek and tributaries (Designed to convey a 50-year event): Clearing and snagging 3 miles and structurally lining 16 miles with reinforced concrete
• Ward Creek and its tributaries (Designed to convey a 10-year event with a portion to convey a 50 year event): Clearing and snagging 14 miles of channel and concrete lining
• Bayou Fountain (Designed to convey a 10-year event): Clearing and widening 11 miles of channel
• Beaver Bayou (Designed to convey a 25-year event): Widening 8 miles of existing earthen channel and improvements to existing culverts and bridges
• Blackwater Bayou and its main tributary (Designed to convey a 10-year event): Widening 13 miles of existing earthen channel and improvements to existing culverts and bridges

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