2023-0039
INTRODUCED BY: MATTHEW JEWELL, PARISH PRESIDENT
ST. CHARLES PARISH COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. ___________
Title
A resolution to condemn the ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in Harrison County Mississippi, et al. vs U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and urging the Corps of Engineers to operate the Bonnet Carr? Spillway as designed.
Body
WHEREAS, the Mississippi River drains all or part of 31 States and two Canadian Provinces through Southeast Louisiana; and,
WHEREAS, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive flood in the history of the United States, which killed 500 people and directly affected 630,000 others; and,
WHEREAS, Congress passed the Flood Control Act of 1928 which charged the Corps of Engineers to tame the Mississippi River and led to the creation of the worlds longest system of levees; and,
WHEREAS, completed in 1931, the Bonnet Carr? Spillway, located in St. Charles Parish was designed to divert floodwaters to Lake Pontchartrain alleviating flood potential downstream; and,
WHEREAS, the operational design and historical practice dictates that the Bonnet Carr? spillway will be opened in order to keep the volume of the Mississippi River flows at New Orleans from exceeding 1.25 million cubic feet per second; and,
WHEREAS, in January of this year the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency within NOAA before opening the Bonnet Carr? Spillway; and,
WHEREAS, delaying the opening of the spillway poses unknown and unnecessary risks to the people and property along the Mississippi River and impacts international commerce and ship traffic.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THAT WE, THE MEMBERS OF THE ST. CHARLES PARISH COUNCIL AND THE PARISH PRESIDENT, do hereby condemn the ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and implore the U.S...
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