The West Shore Lake Pontchartrain project is located in southeast Louisiana on the east-bank of the Mississippi River in St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. James parishes in southeast Louisiana. The West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Chief’s report was published in June 2016 and the project received $760 million in funding in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.
Project Purpose & Features
More than 60,000 people in the three-parish study area have little to no hurricane risk reduction in place. Additionally, the dominant evacuation route for the New Orleans metropolitan area (I10) bisects the study area. During Hurricane Isaac, storm surge inundated approximately 7,000 homes and the interstate was submerged for several days slowing emergency response across the region. The Project will construct a 100-year level risk reduction system extending from the Bonnet Carre spillway to Garyville.
100-year risk reduction will be achieved by a variety of structural and non-structural features to include: levees, floodwalls, and pump stations.
Project Status
The West Shore Lake Ponchartrain (WSLP) project features 18.5 miles of levees, 11 floodwalls, 7 drainage structures, 5 gates, 2 pump stations, and 1 bridge. Recent efforts build on previous construction accomplishments, including nine land-bridge access roads connecting existing state highways and I-10 to the future levee alignment, two sand placement contracts, pile load testing contracts, three stockpile contracts for sand and clay, and multiple mitigation bank awards. To date, 11 of the 14 construction contracts have been awarded, with a total obligation of $683 million across all WSLP efforts. The remaining three construction contracts are scheduled for award through Summer 2027. Coordination is ongoing to efficiently design the project's western end in alignment with the State of Louisiana's Maurepas Diversion project, a critical swamp mitigation feature of the WSLP initiative. This feature compensates for unavoidable swamp habitat while enhancing ecosystem resilience. The Record of Decision issued in January 2023 concluded that the Maurepas Diversion will not only restore the ecosystem surrounding the WSLP project but also increase its resiliency. Construction of the WSLP project in St. John the Baptist and St. Charles parishes is slated for completion in early 2030.