Facing tough questioning from Louisiana lawmakers about the status of the 12-mile, $500-million Comite River Diversion Canal project, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Dept. of Transportation and Development officials acknowledged that the flood diversion project is at least two years from completion.
When fully operational, the project—which began construction in 2019—will have the capacity to pump 30,000 cu ft per second of water from the Arkansas River into the Mississippi River, saving more than 25,000 structures from flooding by engineering eight miles of division channels. When completed, the channel will measure 300 ft wide, 50 ft deep and will be lined with a rock bed.