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Comite River Diversion Canal, Corps projects remain underway; Corps aims to advertise remaining contracts by year end
Summary
ARBC staff reported incremental progress on the Comite River Diversion Canal and several Corps of Engineers tributary projects, with the Corps expected to advertise remaining contracts this calendar year and project completion timelines stretching into 2028–2030.
Amite River Basin Commission executive director Paul Sawyer said work on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Comite River Diversion Canal is ongoing and that the Corps plans to advertise and execute the last six remaining contracts by the end of the calendar year.
“If those items are approved by the end of this calendar year... they estimate that... the project takes more than 900 days to construct,” Sawyer said, describing a completion window that would place the canal’s finish in late 2028 or 2029 if contracts proceed on schedule.
Sawyer also described progress on the Corps’ larger $255,000,000 set of projects (described in testimony as “five separate projects”) in East Baton Rouge Parish. He said preliminary actions remain for two northern tributaries—Blackwater and Beaver Bayou—where rights-of-entry and access points are still being established. The lower three tributary projects (Fountain, Worts Creek and Jones Creek) have moved farther along with clearing, snagging and some armoring work, and are expected to continue through 2028.
Legal counsel Larry Bankston told commissioners that, without an extension of an exemption in state law, there would be a “real question” about whether the Corps could finish construction of a diversion weir if the work extended past the statutory date. That observation came in the context of ARBC support for House Bill 172, which the commission said would extend a temporary exemption to the Louisiana Scenic Rivers Act for Bayou Manchac and the Comite River while Corps work continues.
Commissioner Raiford noted planned meetings with the Corps (a June 12 meeting was cited) to review statuses and to discuss design details and to ensure projects do not move water problems downstream to other areas of the parish. Sawyer and others emphasized coordination among parishes and with the Corps to mitigate unintended effects.
No formal Corps contract actions were taken by the commission at the meeting. The commissioners’ discussion focused on monitoring, scheduling meetings with the Corps and emphasizing the need to preserve environmental integrity while advancing flood-mitigation benefits.
Sources: Remarks by Paul Sawyer (ARBC executive director), Larry Bankston (ARBC legal counsel), and comments from Commissioner Raiford during the ARBC meeting.
