River Oaks Pump Station Maintenance Supports Flood Protection
BEHIND THE SCENES: LCG CREWS KEEP RIVER OAKS PUMP STATION READY FOR RAIN
Routine maintenance is part of LCG’s year-round work to protect critical drainage infrastructure and reduce flood risk.
Lafayette, LA – Even as hot, dry weather grips the region, Lafayette Consolidated Government (LCG) drainage crews have been working behind the scenes to ensure that Lafayette is ready when the rain returns. River Oaks pump station, located off Surrey Street near the Vermilion River, is one of five pump stations routinely inspected and maintained by LCG drainage crews. This pump station helps drain the area in the vicinity of River Oaks and Oakbourne subdivisions.
The station's two large sump pumps do essential, largely unseen work: pulling stormwater away from surrounding neighborhoods and safely routing it into the Vermilion River through a fully automated process that activates during rain events. Each pump is 42 inches in diameter and powered by a 500-horsepower natural gas engine. Each pump can remove 50,000 gallons per minute and helps drain approximately 101 acres into the Vermilion River.
While inspections occur on a weekly basis, it’s the routine that is one of the most important investments LCG makes in the community's long-term flood resilience. It’s a full two-day process to remove the eight to nine yards of sediment that collects near the pump impellers, ensuring the pumps perform as designed when a storm hits.
It's quiet, unglamorous work — but skipping it isn't an option. Left unchecked, sediment, grit and debris — including grease, trash, plastic bags and lawn clippings — build up and clog the impellers. Once that happens, pumps can become overwhelmed and become damaged, water backs up into storm pipes, and flooding can occur even during an ordinary rain event.
That's why litter abatement matters just as much as infrastructure investment. Every piece of trash that ends up in a storm drain is one more obstacle standing between Lafayette and a functioning flood-mitigation system — a reminder that protecting the city's drainage network is a responsibility shared between LCG and the community it serves.
“Cleaning a pump station is essential infrastructure insurance, said Brian Smith, drainage director for LCG. “Scheduling and performing routine maintenance ensure we keep the pump station operable and mitigate flooding. This is critical work that saves taxpayer dollars in emergency pump repairs and can minimize property damage when intense rainstorms arrive. While major drainage projects are one part of LCG's flood-mitigation strategy, routine maintenance of existing canals, coulees, pump stations and drainage infrastructure are equally important to ensuring the system performs when it's needed.”
Maintenance is important behind-the-scenes work that drainage crews perform year-round to keep this critical piece of infrastructure operating at full capacity. Residents can always report drainage maintenance needs by calling 311.
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