• By KORAN ADDO
• Advocate Westside bureau
• Published: Mar 10, 2010 - Page: 1A

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NEW ROADS — Biologists from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries outlined preliminary plans Tuesday to temporarily draw down the water levels in False River starting in the fall.

Wildlife and Fisheries biologist Rachel Walley spoke in front of hundreds of people gathered at the Pointe Coupee Police Jury meeting concerned how the proposal might damage their property and interrupt recreation in the area.

She told the crowd that False River has been in a slow decline for decades in terms of water quality.

A series of drainage canals built in the late 1980s and early 1990s dramatically increased sedimentation in the oxbow lake, choking out vegetation on the lakebed and leading to a massive accumulation of organic matter, or muck, in False River, she said.

The sediment combined with the organic matter led to the decline of desirable fish, such as bass, that attracted anglers to the area while at the same time causing populations of less-desirable fish such as grass carp to thrive, she said.

“The lake is in a state of decay,” Walley said. “We consider it dying.”

The plans Walley proposed call for a slow reduction of water levels at a rate of two inches per day starting after Labor Day and continuing into late January, she said.

When the drawdown is complete, Walley said, the agency would allow nature to run its course by filling the lake back up.

The proposed drawdown, she said, mimics the natural way bodies of water regulate themselves.

The planned drawdown would dry out the lakebed soil, causing muck buildups to decompose, she said.

That in turn would promote vegetation growth and foster improved conditions for fish to spawn, she said.

Walley acknowledged the state could look into dredging large plumes of sediment out of the lake, but she said that process could cost between $5 million and $10 million.

A drawdown, which is common practice in the state, she said, is the easiest and most cost-effective way to restore False River’s health.

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