St. Charles leaders review flood response, outline major pump station and bar-screen projects

PARS President Jewell told the St. Charles Parish Council that crews responded to heavy localized rainfall tied to Invest 93L and that the parish is advancing major drainage projects to reduce future flooding.

Jewell said parish teams prepared sandbag stations and cleared known drainage “hot spots” under railroad tracks, and that a storm cell produced an intense two-hour inundation during which official gauges recorded about 7.5 inches of rain in Destrehan and Luling. "There was significant amount of street flooding throughout Ormond and Destrehan, and Luling and Old Luling as well," Jewell said. He added that fewer than 10 houses reported water entering the structures during this event, compared with an estimated 50 to 100 homes that would have flooded in similar past events.

The report connected that operational response to ongoing capital work. Jewell said construction has begun on Munson Pump Station No. 1, a roughly 267 cubic-feet-per-second pump station on CC Road, and that the parish is seeking council approval tonight for work on a second Munson pump station. If approved, the two projects would be advanced together with a near-$30 million combined investment and a joint groundbreaking, he said. Jewell said the projects are intended in part to keep more local drainage in parish control by separating about 600 acres of St. John Parish water out of St. Charles Parish's watershed.

Jewell also described progress at a separate, critical pump station that is receiving a new bar-screen cleaning system and related works. He said contractor Sealevel has completed concrete pile load testing, installed temporary retaining structures and timber and concrete piles, and nearly finished canal excavation, leaving only the section between the waski deck and the bar-screen installation. Jewell characterized that work as a $12 million improvement and said it will increase permanent pumping capacity for a very large watershed.

Jewell noted that some homes remain at elevations below street level and that, despite infrastructure work, those properties are still at risk of flooding in extreme events. He said one resident whose home flooded in a previous storm is scheduled for elevation within one to two weeks.

The council and staff did not take a vote on the flood response summary during Jewell's report; Jewell presented operational updates and sought council support later in the meeting for the second Munson station appropriation.