An important Corps of Engineers project to protect the area has been consistently underfunded.

Purpose
The Southeast Louisiana Project provides for engineering, design, and construction of projects for flood control and improvements to rainfall drainage systems in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany Parishes.

Background
Between 1978 and 1998, Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Tammany Parishes experienced numerous rainfall flooding events. Flooding originates from excessive rainfall and outdated urban drainage facilities. The Federal Emergency Management Agency paid claims totaling over $814 million for this period. Devastating record flooding due to torrential rainfalls in southeast Louisiana occurred May 8 through May 10, 1995. In May 1995, 6-hour rainfall amounts, averaging 12 inches, caused extensive flooding throughout the area. Seven lives were lost and over 35,000 homes were flooded along with thousands of businesses and public facilities. There was significant street and highway damage. Estimated flood damages, reported for the May event, total about $1 billion for the three parishes.

As a result of the extensive flooding in May 1995, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana (SELA) Project with enactment of Section 108 of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1996 and Section 533 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1996, as amended, to provide for flood control and improvements to rainfall drainage systems in Jefferson, Orleans, and St. Tammany Parishes, Louisiana in accordance with the following reconnaissance reports of the New Orleans District Engineer: Jefferson and Orleans Parishes, Louisiana, Urban Flood Control and Water Quality Management, July 1992; Tangipahoa, Techefuncte, and Tickfaw Rivers, Louisiana, June 1991; St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, July 1996; and Schneider Canal, Slidell, Louisiana, Hurricane Protection, May 1990.

Technical reports were prepared in April 1996 and May 1996 to identify the initial work to be implemented under the SELA project authority. These technical reports, which were approved in October 1996, were the basis of the Project Cooperation Agreements (PCAs) for Jefferson and Orleans Parishes that were executed on January 16, 1997 and January 23, 1997.

Authority
The project was authorized by the Fiscal 1996 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act (Sec 108), and the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 (Sec 533).

Scope
The project includes channel and pump station improvements in the three parishes. The channel and pumping station improvements in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes support the parishes’ master drainage plans and generally provide flood protection on a level associated with a ten-year rainfall event, while also reducing damages for larger events. St. Tammany Parish plans would provide flood protection for various rainfall events.

In Orleans Parish, approved plans involve improving five major drainage lines, adding pumping capacity to two pump stations, and adding a new pump station. Proposed plans include improving 13 canals, adding pump capacity to two existing pump stations, and adding two new pump stations.

Progress to Prior to Katrina
In Orleans Parish, nine contracts have been awarded, seven are complete, two are underway, and one remains to be awarded. Most of the remaining contracts had been scheduled for award in fiscal year 2003; however, funding limitations have prevented moving forward with those contracts. Overall, the currently scheduled work in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes is about 70 percent complete and should be finished in 2008, if funding can keep pace.