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2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 82
BY REPRESENTATIVE MINCEY
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development to
coordinate a comprehensive assessment and study relative to managing, mitigating
and adapting future flood risks in Livingston Parish.
WHEREAS, on April 5, 1983, rain began to fall in Livingston Parish and would
continue to fall for fifty hours; and
WHEREAS, the 1983 flood would become the worst in history with homes and
businesses flooded; and
WHEREAS, the Comite River crested at 29.7 feet and the Amite River crested at
41.5 feet a day later; and
WHEREAS, damage in Livingston Parish would reach eighty-three million eight
hundred thousand dollars; and
WHEREAS, thirty-three years later in August 2016, historic flooding devastated
South Louisiana after slow moving rains deposited more than thirty inches of rain in
Livingston Parish; and
WHEREAS, the Amite River at Denham Springs crested at 46.20 feet; and
WHEREAS, ninety-four percent of the population of Livingston Parish was affected
negatively by the 2016 flood; and
WHEREAS, ninety-four percent of the housing structures of Livingston Parish were
affected negatively by the 2016 flood; and
WHEREAS, ninety-nine percent of the businesses of Livingston Parish were affected
negatively by the 2016 flood; and
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WHEREAS, sixteen elementary, junior high, and high school campuses were
affected negatively by the 2016 flood; and
WHEREAS, this time the damage to Livingston Parish totaled at eight hundred
million dollars; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana is regularly impacted by flooding throughout the state, and
extreme water events have increased in both frequency and magnitude; and
WHEREAS, flooding after a rain event is not only related to the amount and intensity
of rainfall received, but is also closely tied to land use, as well as policy and infrastructure
decisions; and
WHEREAS, the median walls erected along Interstate 12 in Livingston Parish
contributed to the risk of flooding in some areas by impairing the natural flow of water
accumulating along the Interstate 12 corridor; and
WHEREAS, nothing has been done to increase the natural flow of water that could
potentially accumulate as a result of the existing median wall along the Interstate 12
corridor; and
WHEREAS, multiple programs designed to mitigate and reduce flood risk are
managed by different state agencies, local entities, and political subdivisions; and
WHEREAS, currently flood plains are impacted by actions and decisions made by
a wide variety of people, laws, and regulatory bodies, including private landowners,
municipalities, parish leaders, zoning laws, building codes, statewide regulations, and federal
requirements. Existing practices across varying levels of government do not currently
provide for the flood plain management that is necessary to properly address drainage issues
as land is developed, including in the Amite River Basin; and
WHEREAS, the increasing frequency and extent of flood events demands heightened
levels of coordination, information sharing, and response among state agencies and other
stakeholders in order to more closely align resources and programs designed to protect
communities from flooding and manage flood plains and watersheds effectively; and
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana is committed to increasing community and
regional resilience to flooding by managing, mitigating, and adapting to future flood risk;
and
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WHEREAS, the widespread disaster caused by the Great Flood of 2016 revealed how
susceptible Louisiana's landscape is to flooding, particularly in Livingston Parish within the
Amite River Basin; and
WHEREAS, the greatest impact of the Great Flood of 2016 was within the Amite
River Basin located primarily in Livingston Parish and as such it is imperative to move
forward with management of the Amite River Basin before the next flood event; and
WHEREAS, Livingston Parish's recovery from the Great Flood of 2016 is a result
of the resilience and determination of its citizens; and
WHEREAS, a study of the management of the Amite River Basin would assist in the
development of an overall scheme of management for all of the watershed identified in
Louisiana by the Louisiana Watershed Initiative; and
WHEREAS, nothing in this House Concurrent Resolution is intended nor may be
construed to impact any pending litigation in any way; and
WHEREAS, this Resolution, the required report, and all documentation,
consideration, and discussion in relation thereto shall not be produced, introduced, or
mentioned in any pending litigation; and
WHEREAS, the study would also assure that management of the Amite River Basin
moves forward in an accelerated manner such that flood mitigation grant funds resulting
from the Great Flood of 2016 could be used to implement projects in the watershed
expeditiously and ahead of the next flood event in an effort to protect the safety and welfare
of the citizens living and working in the Amite River Basin.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Department of Transportation and Development to coordinate a
comprehensive assessment and study relative to managing, mitigating, and adapting future
flood risks in Livingston Parish specifically as it relates to the median walls erected along
the Interstate 12 corridor.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this comprehensive assessment and study on
managing, mitigating, and adapting to flood risks in Livingston Parish shall include input
from the following:
(1)The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
(2)The Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute.
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(3)The Council on Watershed Management.
(4)The Louisiana Office of Community Development.
(5)The United States Army Corps of Engineers.
(6)State and local political subdivisions in Livingston Parish.
(7)Any additional stakeholders considered relevant by the Department of
Transportation and Development.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department's study shall additionally
accomplish the following:
(1)Provide an assessment of the historical, existing and planned hurricane storm
damage reduction, flood protection and drainage infrastructure and projects within
Livingston Parish that clearly depicts which communities are protected by that infrastructure
given hydrologic conditions.
(2)Provide an assessment of which communities are currently providing funding
for the operations and maintenance of associated flood protection and drainage infrastructure
in Livingston Parish and which communities are not.
(3)Develop overall strategies to promote and maintain the management of the
Amite River Basin within Livingston Parish.
(4)Develop engineering solutions to improve natural water flow along the
Interstate 12 corridor with existing median walls which may additionally or alternatively
include engineering solutions to retrofit existing median walls to improve the natural water
flow along the Interstate 12 corridor.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study shall also include the following:
(1)A review of the history of flood events in the Amite River Basin.
(2)Use of the latest and most scientifically-reliable available data and
technology.
(3) Projection of costs associated with the recommended solutions.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation and
Development shall submit an update on the progress made with respect to the study to the
legislature no later than sixty days prior to the 2022 Regular Session.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation and
Development shall submit a report of its study and recommendations for any statutory, rule,
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regulation, or policy changes relative to management of the Amite River Basin to the
legislature no later than sixty days prior to the 2023 Regular Session and deliver copies of
the report to the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the
Senate Natural Resources Committee, the Senate Transportation, Highways and Public
Works Committee, the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee, the House
Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee, the Louisiana Office of
Community Development, the Council on Watershed Management, the Coastal Protection
and Restoration Authority, and the secretary of the Department of Transportation and
Development.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Department of Transportation and Development.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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