Opened in 2002 this project continues the trend pioneered by Caernavon.
Just to the west of the Churchill Farms area this
project can divert as much fresh water from the river into the
Barataria Basin as the Potomac River carries past Washington D.C.
Like Caernavon there is controversy around this project.
Engineering problems and the typical bureaucratic nonsense have
limited the effectiveness of this project to less than 40% of its
capacity.
Engineering problem: The boundary of the pond along
Lake Cataouatche is a rock weir that is supposed to allow fresh water to
enter the lake when the diversion is operating. The weir has a history of clogging and causing flooding of the land around
the project when the diversion is operating.
Bureaucracy: The Corps maintains their authorization for the
project is to control salinity in the
Barataria Basin and throttles the diversion back to achieve only that
goal (and coincidentally to not exceed the capacity of the weir). The
state would prefer to see some land formation reversing the
losses in the basin and would need the diversion to run at full
capacity to maximize this objective. The language of the Corps is careful. Consider what Al Naomi, senior
project manager for the corps in New Orleans had to say about Davis
Pond: "I agree that maybe changing operation might help do other things.
Right now thats not really an option...We're tied to the current
authorization language."
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