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Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System, West Bank & Vicinity |
Official Project Name
Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System, West Bank & Vicinity
Location
The project is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River in the vicinity of New Orleans and in Jefferson, Orleans and Plaquemines Parishes.
Purpose
The project will reduce the risk of storm surges from Lake Cataouatche, Lake Salvador, and other waterways leading to the Gulf of Mexico.
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Inside the 19,140 cubic feet per second pump station at the West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse, LA.
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Status
Post-Katrina legislation authorized and funded 100-year level flood protection for the areas on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The existing WBV project features will be replaced, raised, or otherwise enhanced as necessary to achieve the increased protection. A new addition to the WBV system is the Harvey Canal floodgate, completed in August 2007, which protects residents and businesses north of the gate. To reduce the risk of storm surge to the south, floodwalls along the Harvey Canal are under construction and should be complete in 2010. Currently, 3.1 of the 3.5 miles of floodwall are under construction with a completion date scheduled for August 2010. The fourth of five Harvey Canal floodwall contracts was awarded in July 2008. The remaining contract is scheduled for award in September 2008; designs are currently being finalized.
While levees along the Algiers Canal are currently being raised to previously authorized levels, an alternative for 100-year protection is being considered. A navigable floodgate and pumping station in the Algiers Canal or Gulf Intracoastal Waterway would eliminate the need to raise significant portions of the area’s levees. The best option will be selected by October 2008.
The alignments of levees and floodwalls at the Oakville eastern tie-in are currently being determined. Construction should begin in early 2009.
Fronting protection and backflow prevention will be provided at the numerous non-federal pumping stations in Orleans, Jefferson, and Plaquemines, that are within the alignment of protection to round out the 100-year level of flood protection for the West Bank.
Benefit to the Community & Project Features
Benefit to the Community
The project area is a New Orleans suburb with high-density residential and commercial development. Extremely low elevations subject most of the area to flooding during even moderate tropical storms. To reduce risk to residents and businesses from storm damage and repetitive flooding, approximately 66 miles of levees and floodwalls and a sector gate will be constructed. In addition to the physical protection the system will provide, it will also achieve the levels of risk reduction necessary for certification with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). West bank residents and businesses will benefit not only from the reduced risk, but also from the monetary benefits associated with NFIP participation in the event that damage from a storm event does occur.
Features
• Oakville Levee (Eastern Tie In) – An important part to the WBV system, the “tie-in” connects the WBV to the Mississippi River Levee system; thereby closing the hurricane protection system on the west bank. Currently several alternative are under review to determine the best alignment for this part of the project.
• Hero Canal levee
• Algiers Canal levees
• Harvey Canal floodgate - A major surge protection feature, the floodgate provides a closure across the canal and provides hurricane surge protection to residents and businesses north of the gate. It is located at Lapalco Boulevard and has been operational since August 2007.
• Floodwalls east of Harvey Canal - No federal protection has previously existed along the east bank of Harvey Canal, making this area the most vulnerable on the West Bank. About 3.5 miles of floodwalls and one mile of levee are under construction along the east bank of the Harvey Canal. In addition, 2.5 miles of levee on the west bank are being raised to previously authorized elevations.
• There are several proposed modifications to the protection system in the Harvey and Algiers area that could facilitate the construction of the 100-year risk reduction (1% probability) work. These include raising all of the levee and floodwalls along the canals to the higher elevations required, or construction of a new gated structure south of the existing protection system.
• Cousins Pump Station Expansion
• Westwego to Harvey levees
• Company Canal floodwalls – A new levee, floodwall, and gated structure are necessary to achieve 100-year protection at Company Canal. In the meantime, an interim closure gate across the canal was installed to address the critical vulnerability of the Company Canal floodwalls.
• Bayou Segnette floodwalls
• Lake Cataouatche levees
• Western Tie In (System closure at Davis Pond) – Several alignments are under investigation to determine the best way to tie-in the levee system to the Mississippi River levee.
• Fronting Protection and Backflow Prevention at pump stations in Plaquemines, Jefferson and Orleans Parish
Authority
The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1986 (PL 99-662) authorized the Westwego to Harvey Canal Hurricane Protection Project. The WRDA of 1996 (PL 104-303) modified the project by adding the Lake Cataouatche area and the East of Harvey Canal Hurricane Protection Project. WRDA 1999 (PL 106-53) combined the three projects under the current name, the West Bank and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project.
The DOD Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pandemic Influenza Act of 2006 (PL 109-148, Chapter 3, Construction, and Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies) appropriated funds to accelerate the completion of the previously authorized project, and to restore and repair the project at full Federal expense.
In June 2006, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and the Hurricane Recovery of 2006 (PL 109-234, Title II, Chapter 3, Construction, and Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies) appropriated funds and added the authority to raise levee heights where necessary, reinforce and replace floodwalls, and otherwise enhance the project to provide the levels of protection necessary to achieve the certification required for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) under the base flood elevations current at the time of this construction.
In May 2007, the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 (PL110-28, Title IV, Chapter 3, Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies and Sec. 4302) provided $1,300,000,000 to carry out projects and measures for the WBV and LPV projects as described in PL 109-148 above, and provided flexibility to the Secretary to reallocate unobligated funds from the PL 109-234 projects funded under the Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies heading, subject to coordination with the House and Senate Committees on Appropriation.
WRDA 2007 authorized the raising of levee heights to achieve certification required for a 100-year level of protection in accordance with the NFIP under base flood elevations current at the time of construction. WRDA 2007 further amended the existing project by striking "operation and maintenance" and inserting "operation, maintenance, rehabilitation, repair, and replacement," and by striking "Algiers Channel" and inserting "Algiers Canal Levees." It further changed the non-Federal cost share of the project to 35 percent.
The 6th Supplemental (P.L. 110-252, Title II, Chapter. 3, Construction) will provide WBV $920 million dollars (Federal dollars to become available October 1, 2008, i.e. the start of next fiscal year) subject to a Federal 65% and 35% non-Federal cost share "to modify authorized projects in southeast Louisiana to provide hurricane, storm and flood damage reduction in the greater New Orleans and surrounding areas to the level of protection necessary to achieve the certification required for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program under the base flood elevations current at the time of enactment of this Act". This Act was passed on 30 June 2008.
The HSDRRS includes five parishes and consists of 350 miles of levees and floodwalls; 73 non-Federal pumping stations; 3 canal closure structures with pumps; and 4 gated outlets. Following Hurricane Katrina, Congress fully authorized and funded the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) for southeast Louisiana.
Scope
The original project included 22 miles of earthen levee and 2 miles of floodwalls extending from the Harvey Canal down to the V-levee near the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and back up to the town of Westwego. The Lake Cataouatche area eliminated the west-side closure in Westwego, and added about 10 miles of levee and 2 miles of floodwalls to the project. The East of Harvey Canal area includes a sector floodgate in the Harvey Canal just below Lapalco Boulevard and about 25 miles of levee and 5 miles of floodwalls, including enlargement of the Federal levees along the Algiers Canal.
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