ENROLLED
2022 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 181
BY REPRESENTATIVE MINCEY
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the office of community development to work with the Louisiana
Watershed Initiative to create an independent watershed region for the Amite River
Basin.
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana created the Amite River Basin Drainage and
Water Conservation District by Act No. 896 of the 1981 Regular Session of the Legislature
to function as the floodplain manager and coordinator of flood risk reduction in the basin;
and
WHEREAS, the Amite River Basin is comprised of the parishes of Ascension, East
Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, and St. James; and
WHEREAS, all of these parishes were declared disaster areas in 2016; and
WHEREAS, the Amite River Basin includes the most populous parish in the state
and two of the fastest growing parishes in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the region includes three of the most impacted parishes in all of the
2016 floods, one of these parishes experienced three presidential disaster declarations within
an eleven month span; and
WHEREAS, building on an early investigation into innovative solutions, Governor
John Bel Edwards launched the Louisiana Watershed Initiative (LWI), governed by the
Council on Watershed Management, to reform the state's approach to flood mitigation; and
WHEREAS, the LWI is pursuing a holistic approach to watershed management, one
that goes beyond conventional mitigation measures and incorporates nature-based solutions;
and
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WHEREAS, it is important that a system of management be developed for the
various watersheds in the state of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the LWI currently has eight watershed regions; and
WHEREAS, the most significant impact of the great floods of 2016 was within the
Amite River Basin, and it is imperative to move forward with management of the Amite
River Basin before the next flood event; and
WHEREAS, the Amite River Basin is currently located in region seven along with
several other parishes that are not within the basin; and
WHEREAS, by virtue of flood risk, present and future project development, prolific
data analysis, and watershed-based governance, the Amite River Basin must exist as its own
region within the Watershed Initiative.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the office of community development
to work with the Louisiana Watershed Initiative to create an independent watershed region
for the Amite River Basin.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
executive director of the office of community development and the regional watershed
coordinator for region seven of the Louisiana Watershed Initiative.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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