New Orleans – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District is repairing two of three pumps at the Pointe Coupee Pumping Station. This station provides rainwater drainage support for the Upper Pointe Coupee Loop, an 80,000-acre area surrounded by Mississippi and Atchafalaya River levees.
During normal river conditions, the adjacent 1,500 cubic feet per second gated drainage structure serves as the primary means of removing rainwater from inside the Upper Pointe Coupee Loop by allowing connected drainage canals to flow through the Morganza Floodway Upper Guide Levee. Supplemental drainage can be provided by the Pointe Coupee Pumping Station when canal stages reach at least 23.5 feet at the station. The gated drainage structure will remain fully operational with remaining pump capacity sufficient for drainage under normal conditions.
The drainage structure will only be closed during extreme Mississippi River high water events when operation of the Morganza Floodway is required to safely pass the flow downriver. At that time, the system is design to divert drainage through the Pointe Coupee Pumping Station.
If operation of the Morganza Floodway is required during the period of repair, USACE will install temporary pumps to ensure the area has a minimum drainage capacity of 1,500 cfs.
USACE is underway with efforts to construct a staging area to ensure placement of temporary pumps will not threaten the integrity of the levee system as well as improve expediency in deployment if needed.
The first pump is scheduled to be returned to service in March 2022, followed by completed repairs of the second pump in spring 2023.
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Release no. 22-003