Slidell resident pushes for floodgates

John Faust is on a mission.

For the past five months, he has been researching flood control in St. Tammany Parish, and he is convinced that putting up floodgates in the Rigolets and at Chef Pass and building a barrier along U.S. Highway 90 will keep the waters of Lake Pontchartrain from doing the damage that occurred in Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

Faust, a resident of Eden Isles for 22 years has collected data and photographs, talked to politicians and flood experts and said that with the increase in the parish population, another storm like Katrina could do even more damage to the coastline of St. Tammany if something is not done. He has even set up a Web site, www.floodprotectionforsttammany.com that explains his research and what should be done.

“I’m not an engineer, and I’m not a hydrologist, I just did a lot of research,” Faust said.

He contends that once the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finishes blocking the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet channel, putting in floodgates at the Intracoastal Waterway and raising levees in Orleans and St. Bernard parishes to 20 feet, the flood danger to St. Tammany Parish will increase. If a hurricane follows the same path as Katrina, its winds will create a storm surge. This surge will be deflected by the barriers at the MR-GO and ICW. That increase in water will go into Lake Borgne, then into Lake Pontchartrain. Faust thinks the surge would be much higher than the one created by Katrina, and would cause widespread flooding to the 65,000 people that live along the parish’s coastline.

To offset that scenario, Faust has gone on a campaign to convince politicians, engineers and the Corps of what could happen, and he has met with some success.

“No one I’ve talked to said I was wrong,” Faust said. “They all agree that raising the levees to the south of the lake will increase the surge.”

“There’s no disputing his conclusions,” said state Rep. Greg Cromer who represents Slidell. “It’s not just off the top of John’s head. We have a solution that can work,” Cromer said.

Trying to get something done is a much harder job.

Faust sees two solutions to the problem. The Corps could build a barrier system that would start near Venetian Isles and extend to the Mississippi border. The barrier would be composed of levees, U.S. 90 and the CSX railroad tracks that run into Mississippi. The highway would be elevated, and the railroad tracks are already built high. There would also be huge floodgates at Chef Pass and the Rigolets that would be closed during a hurricane.

The other solution, which is currently under consideration is to build a levee system that would extend from south Slidell down to the Schneider Canal, run north on Eden Isles and then connect with the private levee system to the east of Interstate 10. For Faust that solution has a problem. The levees would encircle Eden Isles, leaving the subdivision open to the lake.

“We would be in a box, exposing the homes to the storm surge,” Faust said. He said that there is a solution to that which is to build a levee on the lake in front of Eden Isles with gates on each side to let boats in and out.

But Faust thinks the barrier and floodgates is a better idea, and he is not alone. Back in 1965 after Hurricane Betsy, the Corps proposed the floodgates along with a barrier system. However, the environmental group, Save Our Wetlands, sued to stop the construction of the gates in the early 70’s and the idea was put on the back burner. Save Our Wetlands said the gates would do harm to the lake’s ecosystem.

Currently, the Corps is working on a flood protection plan to handle a 100-year flood. Tim Axtman, a senior projects manager with the Corps said they are looking higher levels of protection, even up to a Category 5 storm.

“We are looking into a barrier system that would involve both gates and levees,” Axtman said.

He said the report is not finished. He did say there were two issues with the plan that may hinder progress on flood protection. First, the state of Mississippi is not keen on the idea, because officials there think the barriers and gates would drive the surge toward the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Axtman said that even though a location for the barrier has not been decided on, they might have to build the barrier and gates a bit lower than wanted.

“There would be some over topping, but we could manage those effects on St. Tammany Parish and Mississippi,” Axtman said.

The other issue has to do with the environment. Axtman said the gates are so large, that even when they are opened when there are no storms, they could affect the tides going in and out of Lake Pontchartrain, which would affect the lake’s ecosystem. He said the Corps would have to study the problem further.

As to cost, Axtman said the project would probably cost “tens of billions of dollars.” Faust disputes that and said it would cost about $5 billion.

The report has been delayed, which has made it hard for Congress to appropriate money for the gates and barrier. U.S. Congressman Steve Scalise, who represents St. Tammany, said he is all in favor of the plan, and would like to include it in the Water Resources Development Bill so the money can be allocated. The Corps has said the plan should be ready by August, which is unacceptable to Scalise.

“We need the report sooner, or we will have to wait another two years for the money,” Scalise said. “This plan should have been done decades ago.”

So until the Corps’ flood protection is released, there is not much the politicians or Faust can do. At least he said, he has gotten his message out, and he hopes it will speed up the political process. Cromer said that U.S. Senator David Vitter is also working on trying to find money for the plan, so Faust’s research and arguing may have worked. He is still upset that the south shore is getting all the money and attention.

“How can they leave us (St. Tammany Parish) out? This is something that can be fixed,” Faust said.