Two parishes closing waterways due to rising water levels

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BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Ascension Parish and Livingston Parish are closing their waterways at 12 p.m. on Thursday, April 15.

The recent heavy rains are to blame for the closures.

Ascension Parish released this statement with details about their closure below:

All Ascension Parish waterways and boat launches will close at 12:00 pm today, April 15, due
to high water levels caused by recent heavy rains. The closures have been coordinated with
Livingston Parish.
Parish President Clint Cointment and his administration have been developing guidelines to
uniformly address high-water situations. He stated that he and the Ascension Waterways
Commission have promulgated a formal set of guidelines that will be presented to the
Ascension Parish Council for adoption as an ordinance.
“As the population has grown along the Amite / Blind River basin over the years, there have
been situations arise where high-water events have threatened life and property,” said
President Cointment. “By developing these guidelines, we will eliminate the guesswork and
confusion about waterway closures.”
When the river gauge at Port Vincent reaches 4 feet or the river gauge at French Settlement
reaches 3 feet, the waterways will be determined to be a minor to moderate threat to properties
lying along the shoreline, and it shall be ordered that all vessels traversing along any waterway
in this parish will do so at Idle only speed when passing any physically man-made structure
along the shoreline, until such time as the river gauge falls below 4 feet at Port Vincent or 3
feet at French Settlement.
When the river gauge at Port Vincent reaches 6 feet or the river gauge at French Settlement
reaches 3.6 feet the waterways will automatically close to all recreational traffic and river travel
for recreational purposes will be halted until the river gauge falls below 6 feet at Port Vincent or
3.6 feet at French Settlement.
The guidelines, when adopted, will be added to the existing No Wake Zone ordinance.
“An ordinance will put some teeth in our enforcement efforts,” added President Cointment.