DONALDSONVILLE • DUTCHTOWN • GEISMAR • GONZALES • PRAIRIEVILLE • ST. AMANT
THE ASCENSION
ADVOCATE T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
Darlene Denstorff
|
W e d n e s d ay, Au g u s t 20, 2025
1GN
Plans to build reservoir halted
AROUND ASCENSION
Cointment to speak at GOP roundtable Ascension Parish President Clint Cointment will be the speaker Thursday, Aug. 21 at the Ascension GOP Roundtable at Clarion Inn, 1500 W. La. 30, Gonzales. A meet and greet session starts at 11:30 a.m. and the doors open at 11:15 a.m. Cointment, who was elected to his first term as Ascension Parish president in 2019, has a degree in general studies from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and obtained his professional surveyor’s license from Nicholls State University. Initially working with his father for many years, Cointment owned and operated his family surveying company from 2007 until 2020. Cost for the lunch is $30. To prepay, visit paypal.me/ ARW225 or Venmo. The event is open to the public and guests are welcome. Reservations are requested. A $5 room fee will be collected for those not dining. RSVP: (225) 921-5187 or email: ARWrUS@aol.com.
Upcoming events Aug. 23-24: HERPS Exotic Reptile and Pet Show (Lamar Dixon) Aug. 29-31: River Jam (Fred’s on the River) Aug 30: Summer Sips Pop-Up Market (Sugarfield)
Food distributions set Ascension Parish’s commodity distribution is set for the second Tuesday of each month in Donaldsonville and the second Wednesday of the month in Gonzales. Distributions are from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Frank Sotile Jr. Pavilion in Donaldsonville and at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. All recipients must be prequalified by visiting the Ascension Parish Health Unit, 1024 E. Ascension Complex Blvd. in Gonzales, or Donaldsonville courthouse, 300 Houmas St., in Donaldsonville. Call Layne Melancon at (225) 4501006 or email layne.melancon@ fmolhs.org. Contact Darlene Denstorff by phone, (225) 388-0215 or (225) 603-1998; or email, ascension@theadvocate.com or ddenstorff@theadvocate. com. Deadline: 5 p.m. Friday.
STAFF PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK
Darling Creek flows beneath Otis and Willie Matthews Road in Darlington. Portions of this creek, which flows into the Amite River downstream, would be temporarily flooded if a proposed U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam were built south of this area in St. Helena Parish.
Proposal again faces stiff opposition BY DAVID J. MITCHELL
MISSISSIPPI
Staff writer
Troy
LOUISIANA
Plans for a huge reservoir north of Baton Rouge to help keep the Amite River from flooding densely populated neighborhoods downstream have been sidelined by opposition from people who live in the countryside where it would be built. Instead, the agency that revived the decades-old reservoir idea will focus on restoring curves in the Amite and keeping sediment out of the river, measures that could help scale down disasters like the widespread August 2016 flood, which damaged nearly 65,500 homes and thousands of businesses in East Baton Rouge, Livingston and Ascension parishes alone. The agency, the Amite River Basin Commission, hasn’t formally opposed the big reservoir in East Feliciana and St. Helena parishes. But it has now agreed to add the East Feliciana Parish government’s latest objection to the idea in the commission’s new master plan, which includes the reservoir. Paul Sawyer, executive director of the commission, said the action means the agency will be “laser focused” on other projects that it has money and support for, two elements he called “essential ingredients.” He said the reservoir idea has neither, even though research shows it would reduce flooding. “What we have been saying even
Woodland
432
Felixville
Chipola
Maximum flood potential of dam 10
EAST FELICIANA PARISH
38
Coleman Town Darlington
67
Clinton
KEY:
Darling Creek
960
Expected inundation area in 25-year event (15,860 acres with dam)
448
Hatchersville
Comite River 37
Proposed Darlington Dam
Amite River
EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH
Baywood
37
before this became a household topic in East Feliciana and St. Helena is that we can’t do a project like this without the support and partnership of residents of East Feliciana and St. Helena,” Sawyer said. “They have to be on board with this.” The commission will proceed with $100 million in Amite projects funded through the Louisiana Watershed Initiative, the state-run, federally funded program prompted by the 2016 flood, as well as with a plan to restore parts of the Amite
Expected inundation area in “maximum” event (26,000 acres)
ST. HELENA PARISH
16
Staff map
to reduce downstream flooding. It already has a deal in the works to buy more than 200 acres in St. Helena for the river restoration and hopes to finalize it soon. The idea is to rehabilitate former gravel mining pits to restore natural curves along the middle and upper Amite and to find ways to prevent sediment from washing into the river. A straighter river with heavier sediment loads is believed to worsen flooding downstream. Gaining political momentum
after the historic floods of 1983 — and then again in 2016 — the idea of a big reservoir has long been floated for the rural, hilly area north of Baton Rouge. The preferred location has been a section of the Amite River in East Feliciana and St. Helena just west of the community of Darlington, which gave the concept its name. Repeated analyses by the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have shown that the rolling topography there can be used to store water, reducing flooding by several feet in more populated, lowlying areas downstream. Building the storage area, however, would also mean permanently flooding tens of thousands of acres or greatly reducing their use, displacing people and potentially affecting businesses that rely on the land and the river. Chrissie O’Quin, the East Feliciana Police Jury vice president, delivered the parish government’s resolution of opposition to the reservoir to the Amite commission last month. She said people don’t want to be forced to give up their land, particularly for a project they fear may bring unwelcome changes to a rural area. “They enjoy that peaceful life up there,” she said. Opponents have appeared at several meetings in recent months,
ä See RESERVOIR, page 3G
Prairieville’s Braylon Williams finds motivation in unusual place
PROVIDED PHOTO
Senior Braylon Williams is back for Prairieville High School roaming the secondary.
Athletes are motivated in different ways: It may be a coach’s challenge, a failure in the past or in the case of Braylon Williams, a loss not on the field. Williams is a senior football player for the second-year program at Prairieville High School. The Hurricanes had their first taste of varsity football last fall, the results were mixed, but the experience was priceless. Michael Schmitt is back to lead the program and “I was not really surprised on how last season went being a first-year varsity program. We have many young men competing, the numbers were crazy. Our support from the community was incredible,” said Schmitt.
Troy LeBoeuf ASCENSION SPORTS
Williams plays cornerback and he joins several starters returning from a team that started younger players against established programs. They are motivated going into Year 2. “We have put in the work preparing for this season. We worked nights and even stayed overnight to be a team that wants to be better than last year. Our coaches have instilled in us what
it takes to be a good team, we are confident,” said Williams. Prairieville plays in a strong district with fellow parish teams St. Amant, East Ascension and Dutchtown. The Hurricanes were shut out in three of their district games, not surprising for a new program. Winning two games with a young team is an accomplishment, but Schmitt and his staff are looking for other measures of success as well. “Our team is hungry to improve, but we are realistic. We have only 13 seniors, and we are still young in several areas. Success for us is measured by improvement and playing to your potential. The wins are a result of
ä See LEBOEUF, page 3G