Comite River diversion project won’t be finished for at least another two years

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Capital Region residents awaiting the highly touted flood control measures from the Comite River Diversion Canal project will likely face at least two more hurricane seasons before work is complete.

Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, and Florida Gas Transmissions provided an update to the project’s legislative task force Tuesday.

The project, which has faced repeated delays, is designed to prevent floods like the one that impacted 200,000 homes in Zachary, Baker and Central in 2016.

Army Corps Col. Cullen Jones says the canal will divert 30,000 cubic square feet of water from the Comite River to the Mississippi River once complete, while also drawing water from three bayous. The potential flow through the canal is equal to creating the Arkansas River, Jones says.

The Army Corps is handling 19 of the project’s 22 construction contracts, 13 of which have been awarded with six completed and seven ongoing, Jones says.

Paul Sawyer, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Louisiana, notes that would put the best case timeline for completion in the third quarter of 2025.

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