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“This means levee protection for the entire west bank of St. Charles.” — St. Charles Parish Public Works Director Sam Scholle

The Army Corps of Engineers has approved the third and final phase of the St. Charles west bank hurricane levee, which means all three phases of the levee project have corps approval to move toward construction.

At the St. Charles Parish Council meeting on Monday night, Parish President V.J. St. Pierre announced that on March 6, the Corps of Engineers approved a permit green-lighting the design and construction of Phase III Ellington, the last permit necessary to authorize the project. The other two phases — Phase II Willowridge and Phase I Magnolia Ridge — had already been approved.

The proposed levee will be about 10 miles long. The Ellington phase will connect a previously completed section of the levee between the Paradis Canal and Boutte.

“Last week we received the final permit for the construction of Phase III Ellington,” St. Charles Parish Public Works Director Sam Scholle said Monday night. “We’ve been working on these permits for 15 years, and it’s the first time we’ve had all three approved. This means levee protection for the entire west bank of St. Charles.”

The next steps include acquiring the necessary real estate, and completing engineering and design plans. The parish is also working with both the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and the Lafourche Basin Levee District to incorporate the entire west bank system into the state’s Coastal Master Plan, which will include the Davis Pond West Guide Levee, the Sunset Drainage District Levee and a floodgate structure at Bayou Des Allemands.

“Functional hurricane protection for the entire West Bank of St. Charles Parish is now much closer to reality,” St. Pierre said. “This permit is the result of difficult, tireless work by parish employees, consultants, regulatory agencies and many others. My top priority as parish president has, and will continue to be, ensuring that this vital project moves along as expeditiously as funding allows, and setting up the next parish administration and council for success.”

The west bank hurricane protection levee will cost roughly $150 million. Because the project isn’t part of the area’s federal levee system, St. Pierre said the parish must find other ways to finance it. This year, St. Charles Parish has allocated $18 million to the west bank levee protection fund. Finding the rest of the money is the parish’s next challenge.

“We’ve got our permits in place — and now we have to find the funding,” Scholle said. “It’s all exciting, but funding is the next challenge.”

Scholle said that the $23.2 million allocated by the parish will go toward the beginning stages of construction on Willowridge, which received corps approval in May, 2011. This phase of the project is designed to enclose 27 acres of wetlands near the Davis Pond Diversion canal and another 23 acres of retention area south of the intersection of Willowdale Boulevard and Beaupre Drive.

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St. Charles west bank hurricane levee gets final approval from Army Corps of Engineers