Golden Glen residents are sitting in angst as the cement weir keeping a 2,000-foot retention pond from spilling into their neighborhood, crumbles before their eyes.

The problem

The Mandeville subdivision, built sometime in the 1980s, is the lowest lying of the surrounding neighborhoods of Greenleaves, Cherry Creek, Parc du Lac and Lakewood Heights, all positioned off U.S. Highway 190. Add on Bayou Chinchuba that lies at the heart of Golden Glen, and you get a scenario where most of the surrounding rainwater courses through the low-lying suburb through a maze of ditches, eventually emptying into the bayou.

The only thing separating Golden Glen residents from a 2,000-foot pond is this damaged weir with its center caved in and water freely flowing under it, compromising the integrity of the structure. (Staff Photo by Chad Ruiz)

When it rains, waters flow into a pond located in Parc du Lac that is noticeably higher than Golden Glen. The water eventually finds its way to the 30-foot-wide weir at the end of the sprawling pond that butts up to Golden Glen.

The weir was constructed out of concrete with a V-notched trough in its center to regulate the flow of water entering the Golden Glen subdivision. Mandeville Director of Public Works David deGeneres said when the pond water rises slightly, the trough guides the overflow over the weir and into the network of ditches in Golden Glen. When the pond level rises significantly, the water gently rolls over the top of the curved dam and travels down a 50-foot, sloped concrete slab into the ditches.

At least, this is what’s supposed to happen.

Several years ago, the notched channel in the center of the dam collapsed, leaving a gaping hole nearly 6 feet deep and 4 feet wide that area children would play in. deGeneres said the parish has since filled in the hole with stones, but water continues to flow under the weir, hollowing out the Golden Glen side of the dam, which deGeneres and many neighborhood residents fear will also soon collapse.

“I don’t think we’re at that point of jeopardy just yet, but it could get worse and worse and possibly, in a major rain event, you could see that weir failing,” deGeneres said.

Residents worry if the worst-case scenario were to take place, a catastrophic wall of water would rush through Golden Glen’s streets, flooding everything in its path. But deGeneres said this is very unlikely because the pond is only a few feet deep near its edges and almost 8 feet deep in its center. He explained this would prevent the majority of the water from rushing into Golden Glen because it would remain in the deepest sections of the pond.

But Golden Glen resident Peggy Riecke on Shaunell Road, whose house is closest to the Parc du Lac weir, fears the pond elevations are more skewed than officials think.

“It used to be a beautiful lake at 7 to 8 feet deep, but now it’s only 3 to 4 feet deep, so it needs to be dredged out,” she said.

Although Parc du Lac Homeowner Association President Bou Baldwin said his subdivision has never flooded, he also agrees there are significant silt deposits in the pond.

“It seems to me the pond is full of mud and not nearly as deep as it once was. It needs to be dredged,” he said.

Neither the city nor parish has repaired the weir because Parc du Lac is a private community, meaning the residents pay association fees that covers the neighborhood’s needs including drainage, sewerage and maintenance on the dam. But the damage to the weir far exceeds the capabilities of the Parc du Lac’s Homeowner’s Association.

Baldwin blames the deterioration of the dam on the increase in population.

“The bottom line is when the dam was approved, it was designed for a certain amount of water, but over the years, because of growth and development, more water was funneled here than approved so now the dam is failing,” Baldwin said.

The Fix

A meeting was recently held with city and parish officials to address the derelict dam.

Parish Councilman Henry Billiot expressed his eagerness to rectify the problem, but in order for the parish or the city to get involved, the piece of land the weir occupies would have to be dedicated to St. Tammany Parish.

Baldwin said he would immediately begin the proper procedures to expedite the dedication process, and Billiot said he would add this issue for discussion on the agenda at the next parish meeting.

The proposed solution was for the parish to join with the city of Mandeville and repair the existing weir, but at the meeting, a troubling dilemma surfaced.

Not only is water flowing freely under the weir, but during a rain event, water also overtops the dam by more than 12 inches.

“Our plans were to fix it, but with it overtopping that weir now, we’re going to have to run some numbers, and now we might have to modify the entire dam to control the excess water,” deGeneres said adding this may delay the restoration even further.