Parish Council aims to improve fresh water flow in Bayou Amy

The St. Martin Parish Council is looking to the Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve water flow and water quality in Bayou Amy and the West Atchafalaya Borrow Pit when water flow is low because of a lack of rainfall.
The council passed a resolution at its Feb. 6 meeting asking the district and Corps of Engineers to conduct studies necessary to achieve those goals.
St. Martin Parish President Pete Delcambre said the system of dams and levees that works to prevent flooding in the Mississippi River and Atchafalaya River systems prevents the natural flow of water that keeps water quality at a sufficient level at times.
Delcambre met with representatives of the water district recently.
“This takes that step of nature which was taken away and ensures that the quality of water in St. Martin Parish is continued and achieved,” Delcambre said. “This study here is highly recommended, and I was very pleased with the studies being done and the work being done by this organization.”
District 7 Councilman Chris Tauzin said the Teche-Vermilion project has five major pumps that pump water into Bayou Teche and then into the Vermilion River to maintain the freshwater flow.
There are two 500-foot weirs that allow water overflow into Bayou Amy during high water events.
The problem is that Bayou Amy has no system for increasing water at low water times, with a 36-inch culvert restricting the flow of water into the bayou.
“We take the floodwaters, but we don’t benefit from fresh water,” Tauzin said.
During sugar cane grinding season, farmers are allowed to discharge overflow into the bayou, but that water has no oxygen in it, so there are fish kills in the lake at Catahoula, he said.
“So, we have no fresh water coming in because all we have is this little bitty 36-inch culvert that operates off of a gate valve,” Tauzin said.
The parish was able to get funding for a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) study of the Bayou Amy area, which will be used by the Corps of Engineers to study what it would cost to add another pump and replace the culvert with two six-foot locks.
LIDAR is a method for determining ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver.
“Under low water conditions (with the new water locks) we could pump water from Bayou Vermilion, furnish water to the Bayou Teche, furnish water to the Vermilion, and furnish fresh water to Bayou Amy, which would carry fresh water all the way to the coast,” Tauzin said.
He added that a millage is collected in the four parishes affected by the Teche-Vermilion waterways — St. Martin, Iberia, Lafayette and St. Mary.
“All we’re asking is for our fair share, that we want to be sure that we get the same fresh water that’s going down the Bayou Vermilion and the Bayou Teche,” Tauzin said. “We want that same water to pass through our parish and give us fresh water in low water conditions.”
Without a good current, the silt coming from as far north as the Red River north of Alexandria will cause Catahoula Lake to silt up again, he said.
The study would be done by the Corps of Engineers at its own cost.
“There’s no cost to us for the study,” Tauzin said. “The benefits are going to last a lifetime.”
Work on the project would be paid through a combination of state and federal funds with some matching funds paid through the Teche-Vermilion Water District, he said.
Tauzin said he expects the study could be completed in a year or so.
“For the moneys that are available through the millages to this organization, and with the Corps’ intervention, and as it is not costing us a nickel, I think it’s a no-brainer that we need to pass this (resolution),” Delcambre said. “The benefits to this, you can’t put a pricetag on, and we should be thankful for this Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water association and continue to support them in whatever manner we can.”
Road Improvements
The council heard from Delcambre about the first of 10 planned road improvement projects, awarding a contract for just over $4.5 million to the lowest qualified bidder, Elliott Construction LLC.
Each councilman has a series of nine roads that they bring to the attention of engineers, who evaluate the severity of the road conditions, Delcambre said.
The engineers then make recommendations to the council on which ones need to be placed on the agenda to be fixed.
“We try to take the subjectivity out of it and we try to take care of the roads in actual need in regards to that in making these decisions,” he said. “We will be looking to redo (all 10 of the roads selected) during the year 2024.”
In Other Business
The council also:
• addressed four nuisance properties, ruling to show cause, and agreed to have the owners work with parish representatives to fix the issues with the properties;
• approved a resolution authorizing the parish president to execute a certificate of sustantial completion for the Grand Bois Bridge approach slab and headwall repairs;
• approved a resolution authorizing Delcambre to execute a contract with Jaime M. Rinaudo to provide nutritional education services, an annual renewal;
• approved a resolution authorizing Delcambre to execute an agreement with the Lafayette Juvenile Detention Home for the 2024 year, as the parish does not have a facility to house juvenile offenders;
• approved resolutions appointing Carla JeanBatiste to the Spanish Lake Game and Fishing Preserve Commission, Brigid Zacharie to the St. Martin Parish Board of Waterworks Commissioners District 3, and Marie Yvette Landry to fill the unexpired term of Laura Huval on the St. Martin Parish Tourism Commission;
• and approved a change order for an increase of $56,874.57 for the Ruth Bridge highway drainage improvements.