HOUMA, La. (AP) - One of Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet’s goals before leaving office after the end of next year is changing the route wastewater takes once it disappears down the drain.
He wants to send the water into the wetlands.
“It is a gigantic priority for me,” Claudet said.
The Courier reports (https://bit.ly/1dlo7Oa ) the Terrebonne Parish Council took a step toward that goal March 12 by giving preliminary approval to the Wetland Assimilation Project at the South Terrebonne Wastewater Treatment Plant that includes a $2 million bond sale. There will be public hearing and final passage at the next council meeting on March 26.
The project will reroute millions of gallons of wastewater into the wetlands north of Lake Boudreaux instead of discharging in the Houma Navigation Canal where nutrients in the wastewater are uselessly flushed toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Claudet said Morganza-to-the-Gulf levees at the southern edge of Lake Boudreaux will stop salt water intruding into the lake. And this project will help flush salt water out to protect remaining vegetation around the lake, he said.
Some 4 million gallons of wastewater could be pumped through on a typical day, Terrebonne Parish Manager Al Levron said.
The intent is that some of the nitrogen, ammonia and phosphates in the treated wastewater will also feed plants that bolster eroding land, he said.
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Information from: The Courier, https://www.houmatoday.com
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