Why haven the levees along the Harvey Canal been made better, stronger, and higher?
Many decades ago the Jefferson/Plaquemines Drainage District was formed. One of its missions was to construct a levee along the east side of the Harvey Canal. As the district had little or no funding agreements were made with the adjacent landowners whereby they would construct and maintain the protection to avoid government intrusion into their work place. Unfortunately, the agreements required the elevation of the structures at only + 5.5-feet. Prior to the creation of the West Jefferson Levee District (WJLD), in 1980, Jefferson Parish Government had the responsibility of working with the landowners to assure an adequate level of flood protection along the canal. In fact, around 1980 Jefferson Parish Government thoroughly researched its ability to force compliance with the earlier agreements and determined it could not mandate the businesses to make improvements. Once the WJLD took this responsibility from Jefferson Parish Government, around 1983, it moved quickly to organize support
