– Atchafalaya Basinkeeper Executive Director Dean Wilson and Henderson Mayor Pro Tem Jody Meche warned the St. Martin Parish Council at its May 20 Public Works Committee meeting that the proposed East Grand Lake Ecological Enhancement Project would threaten parishes adjoining the Atchafalaya Basin with future flooding issues.
The East Grand Lake project is a river diversion project that would divert water filled with sediments and pollutants from the Atchafalaya River and Bayou Sorrel through 12 cuts into the surrounding cypress swamps, according to the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper website. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the project proposed by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
A group of plaintiffs including a plaintiff group, including Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association- West, Healthy Gulf, Sierra Club and its Delta Chapter, and Waterkeeper Alliance filed a lawsuit in May of 2024 to challenge the Corps’ approval of the project.
