Caddo Parish rural development committee distributes 2012 water study, members weigh need for updates

The Caddo Parish Rural Development Committee opened its first meeting by distributing copies of a 2012 water-availability study and discussing how the report should guide future work.

Chair called the meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. and said he provided committee members with the study as a starting point for planning. "Mostly, I just wanted to get this to you, let you read this, and let's figure out a plan moving forward of the future of, water, primarily for Caddo Parish," the Chair said.

Commissioner Jean Paul Young described the report as "a really long comprehensive document" and said he will compare inflow and outflow tables, including figures for Caddo Lake, through 2012 with more recent data. "If there is... a trend of the troubling trend like the water going down significantly, then that will be assigned to me that we might need to request further study of this issue," Commissioner Jean Paul Young said.

The Chair told the committee that the parish paid "nearly $1,000,000 — right at 900,000 if I'm not mistaken" for the study and suggested the committee use the existing work before commissioning new research. He also clarified the parish's limits on one matter: "Caddo Parish doesn't really have any authority over the withdrawals of Caddo Lake," he said, adding that those withdrawals involve the Town of Blanchard and the State of Louisiana.

Members thanked the Chair for assembling the materials and said the committee could serve as a conduit to route study findings and ideas to the full governing body. Several members noted that more targeted studies might still be needed for particular areas depending on what the review shows.

A motion to adjourn was made and the Chair declared the meeting adjourned. Committee members discussed holding the next meeting in the conference room to improve conversation and streaming capabilities.