Congress overrides WRDA veto

In a 48-hour span, the U.S. Congress sent President George W. Bush an expected defeat in overriding a White House veto of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), a multi-billon dollar piece of legislation.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 361-54 last Tuesday to override Bush’s veto. The U.S. Senate followed suit on Thursday with a 79-14 vote.

Overrides of vetoes require a two-thirds vote of each body, numbers that were easily garnered by leaders in both houses.

Passage of the bill means that the long awaited Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection project, a 72-mile series of levees, locks, floodwalls and pump stations designed to protect Terrebonne and portions of Lafourche Parish from the surge of a category three hurricane, is now federally authorized. State and parish officials can now begin the process of seeking federal appropriations funding to build the much-needed levee.

The bill also authorizes the South Lafourche Levee District to seek $92 million in funding for upgrades to the ring levee surrounding the 10th Ward of Lafourche Parish. In addition, the district is expected to receive a monetary credit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for work it has already done on the Leon Theriot Lock below Golden Meadow.

The Leon Theriot Lock is expected to be put in place just north of the current floodgates next year.

“Today, green lights went up all over south Louisiana and the stop lights came down. We started to turn dirt, build levees and restore wetlands with the passage of this water resources bill,” said U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu.

U.S. Representative Charlie Melancon also thanked his colleagues who were instrumental in the veto override. “Today is a historic day for Louisiana and our long wait for building Morganza and strengthening levees in Lafourche is almost over,” he said.

In addition to the levee projects approved for Lafourche and Terrebonne, the legislation also calls for the closure of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) in St. Bernard Parish as well as $100 million for hurricane protection in Lafitte and other areas of lower Jefferson Parish.

“The WRDA bill has been much needed and it opens opportunities for us to improve flood protection and work on restoration projects,” said Windell Curole, general manager of the South Lafourche Levee District. “Specifically, there is over $90 million for improvements to our levee system and the bill also gives us credits for work already done on the lock system.”

Congress’ override of the president’s veto marks the first time in this Bush presidency that such an occurrence has taken place. Four other vetoes by Bush failed to muster the needed votes to be overridden.