LIVINGSTON — With vivid memories of the catastrophic 2016 flood still etched in his mind, Livingston Parish President Randy Delatte opened Wednesday night’s public meeting with a clear message: “Nothing in Livingston Parish is more important than drainage.”
Delatte’s remarks kicked off the third of four public meetings on the Amite River Basin Commission (ARBC) Master Plan, a sweeping strategy aimed at addressing flood risk across a seven-parish region. The first two meetings were held earlier in the week in Ascension Parish and Baton Rouge. A final session is scheduled for June 30 at Bluff Creek Baptist Church in Clinton.
Paul Sawyer, executive director of the ARBC, followed Delatte’s remarks by emphasizing the regional scope of the plan. “This plan looks at the entire district, not just Livingston Parish,” he said.
The ARBC Master Plan outlines 13 major projects to reduce flooding and guide long-term stormwater management across more than 2,200 square miles—spanning Livingston, East Feliciana, St. Helena, East Baton Rouge, Ascension, St. James, and Iberville parishes. The basin is home to approximately 700,000 people, or 15% of Louisiana’s total population.
Key waterways covered by the plan include the Amite and Comite rivers, Bayou Manchac, New River, and Colyell Creek.
Sawyer credited State Sen. Valarie Hodges with securing the funding that made development of the plan possible. He also underscored the historic nature of the effort, noting that this marks the first time all seven parishes have come together to collaborate on a unified drainage strategy. “This is the first plan of its kind, following decades of neglect,” he said.
While the master plan is not a regulatory or enforceable document, it serves as a crucial roadmap for reducing flood risk from events like the 2016 flood or Hurricane Ida.
Jerri Daniels, associate vice president of Dewberry Engineers in Denver, Colorado, presented a visual overview of the plan’s potential impact. “If implemented, this plan could save homeowners and businesses in the basin more than $260 million annually in flood-related losses,” she said. Daniels, who hails from Livingston Parish and now lives in Springfield, added, “This one is close to home for me.”
The current rate of annual flood loss in the basin stands at $210 million. If no action is taken, that number could rise to $550 million by 2050, adjusted for inflation. By contrast, implementation of the master plan would limit annual losses to approximately $264 million.
Daniels also pointed out the outdated nature of FEMA flood studies in the region—some of which are more than 30 years old—and highlighted the potential for removing up to 30,000 structures from flood zones, which could save $25 million annually in flood insurance premiums.
The 13 proposed projects include:
Pumping stations to move water into the Mississippi River
Sediment removal to reopen clogged waterways
Ecosystem restoration that reduces both flooding and sediment buildup
Major detention systems to mitigate downstream flooding
New levees to defend against lake and river flooding
Channel improvements
Preservation of floodplains and greenspaces
“When we first began this effort, there were no data,” Daniels said. “Today, we have a wealth of information to guide us.”
Originally budgeted at $1 million, the plan came in under budget, according to Daniels. Sawyer contrasted that modest cost with the $10 billion in federal disaster assistance needed after the 2016 flood.
Daniels noted that the ARBC’s mission and data will continue to evolve, with updates to the plan scheduled every six years.
