For more than a year, recreational and commercial boaters have dealt with the Calcasieu River Saltwater Barrier being open for only 12 hours each day. But that is about to change, thanks to some financial help from four local entities.

The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, Port of Lake Charles, the city of Lake Charles and Calcasieu Sheriff’s Office have agreed to pay a lump sum of money to keep the barrier open longer, a move that will benefit the thousands of boaters that use the waterway daily.

Starting Sunday, the new operating hours will be 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 a.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday.

The barrier has been open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. since January 2013. That was because federal funding had dipped, forcing officials with the Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans district to reduce hours at several locks within the state.

With the lack of federal money, the four local entities decided to chip in enough money to have the barrier stay open longer. The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury and Port of Lake Charles will pay $50,000 each, and the city of Lake Charles and Calcasieu Sheriff’s Office will each pay $25,000.

It’s a unique partnership, considering the Corps is accepting local funds to assist in extending the hours. Tracy Falk, supervisory civil engineer for the Corps’ New Orleans District, said this is “one of the first private-public partnerships of its kind.”

The boat traffic along the Calcasieu River is reason enough to have the barrier open longer. In 2011, the barrier had 389 commercial locks and nearly 14,000 recreational lockages.

But when Corps officials were discussing reducing the hours in 2012, they explained that locks and dams were given service hours based solely on commercial traffic, not recreational. The barrier was placed in the Level 3 category, or 8-12 service hours.

District 14 Calcasieu Police Juror Hal McMillin said that cutting the service hours “changed the dynamics of Southwest Louisiana and how we use our river and waterways.” He wasn’t alone, as other residents and officials said it would hurt commercial development and could cause safety issues.

Now that the barrier is open longer, it provides our residents and boaters with the quality of life they have become accustomed to. Let’s hope that once the two-year window ends, there will be another plan in place to make sure those operating hours aren’t reduced again.(MGNonline)