08/14/2026
This story deserves attention - especially on the 10th anniversary of the 2016 Flood. Randy Delatte - Parish President secured the required permit to clear the channel of the Lower Amite River - which has been silted in and clogged for decades. Silted in, it denies the Amite River the ability to effectively drain. That causes flooding.
President Delatte is a commissioner and partner on the Amite River Basin Commission. His $20 million project is a key component of the ARBC Master Plan - and part of the $100 million effort to also clear Bayou Manchac, extend levee protection in St. James Parish and pump flood waters from the New River in Parish of Ascension to the Mississippi River.
Delatte's project the first phase of the dredging project will extend from Lake Maurepas to the LA 22 bridge.
The project is designed to restore the river’s existing channel capacity and depths, which are approximately 15 to 20 feet.
The first phase is expected to remove approximately 1 million cubic yards of accumulated material from the river.
Delatte said the goal is not to deepen the river beyond its existing channel depths, but to remove material that has built up over time and restore capacity the river has lost.
Livingston Parish is growing rapidly, and local leaders say that growth brings new opportunities as well as new needs.
