Aloha Rigolette Area Louisiana Agricultural Flood Control Volume 1 Main Report

Flooding in the basin occurs largely in the agricultural region of the Aloha-Rigolette area and is caused by interior runoff. Previously, the basin also sustained flooding from Red River overflow. In the mid-1950's, flooding from this source was alleviated by construction of a levee along Red River and floodgates in the levee at the mouth of Bayou Rigolette. The floodgates serve as the only means of evacuating water from the basin. Since the mid-50's, agricultural development in the basin has increased dramatically. Concurrently, the amount of rainfall runoff increased. The streams in the agricultural area and the existing floodgates are now overtaxed by basin runoff. To address this problem, 22 alternative plans including a no-action plan were developed, assessed, and evaluated in this study.