ENROLLED
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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 62
BY REPRESENTATIVE HARRISON
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to study the feasibility
of a project to utilize the freshwater of Lake Verret as an alternative drinking water
source for the residents along Bayou Lafourche.
WHEREAS, Bayou Lafourche serves as the primary water source for several
drinking water systems that serve over three hundred thousand people throughout the
parishes of Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche, and Terrebonne by freshwater conveyed
from the Mississippi River into Bayou Lafourche through a pumping station in
Donaldsonville; and
WHEREAS, those residents came to realize just how precious Bayou Lafourche is
as a natural resource after Hurricane Gustav inundated the bayou with large volumes of
debris, fallen trees, and other vegetation which substantially blocked the flow of water, and
the decomposition of which resulted in the contamination of the water and impairment of
the water’s availability, treatability, color, odor, and taste, rendering the bayou useless as a
drinking water source; and
WHEREAS, since then the state of Louisiana has dedicated over forty three million
dollars to make this important resource more resilient, which has brought to light the need
for an alternate freshwater source besides pumping from the Mississippi River; and
WHEREAS, in the event of a pump station failure, major spill in the river, train
derailment, or some other catastrophic event, the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District has
no other means to get fresh water into the bayou and to the residents who are dependent
upon it; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 62
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WHEREAS, one alternative to address this problem is to utilize the freshwater of
Lake Verret by constructing a structure at Cancienne Canal to Bayou Lafourche, channel
clearing and dredging within Cancienne Canal, and water quality analysis within Lake
Verret.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to study the feasibility of
a project to utilize the freshwater of Lake Verret as an alternative drinking water source for
the residents along Bayou Lafourche.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to the executive director of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE