Public invited to meet on water quality project

Upper Terrebonne Basin (UTB) Water Quality Improvement Project officials will present an overview efforts to improve the water quality in streams, bayous, and rivers in Iberville, Pointe Coupee, and West Baton Rouge parishes at a public meeting from 5-7:45 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, at the Carl F. Grant Civic Center in Plaquemine.

Outdoorsmen, fishermen, hunters, birding enthusiasts, conservationists and resource managers, as well as industry, tourism, economic and business representatives are urged to attend and provide input on the plans.

A web site, www.utbwatershed.com, has been developed for the public to receive information and to provide input. Stakeholders are encouraged to check out this website for more detailed information about the project and public meeting.

The project is being funded by the Tri-Parish Partnership between Iberville, Pointe Coupee, and West Baton Rouge parishes with financial support from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

It focuses on many watershed issues, including water quality, wildlife and fisheries habitat, erosion, sedimentation, flooding, navigation, and the overall environmental health of the water resources.

The meeting will begin with an open house for exhibits and an opportunity to meet the UTB staff at 5 p.m. Presentations will begin at 6:00 p.m.

In addition to water quality sampling, additional components of this watershed project include removal of waterborne debris, continued stakeholder meetings to gather and disseminate information, cleanup events and water festivals, educational activities in the schools, and assessing the feasibility for freshwater reintroduction.

Further information is available from Iberville Environmental Manager John Clark, the Tri-Parish Partnership supervisor, at jclark@ibervilleparish.com or (225) 687-5190.

The Civic Center is located at 24700 J. Gerald Berret Boulevard