After revisions at a series of community meetings, the Master Plan, presented by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation on July 16, to revive and replenish the Baton Rouge Lakes has been completed. The Master Plan comprises two phases of construction including several projects focused on the health and practical use of the lakes, according to BRAF’s executive vice president John Spain.
“Historically, they weren’t lakes,” Spain said. According to the website set up by BRAF for the Lakes project, the land the lakes occupy was donated to the University in the mid-’30s on the condition that the swamp be turned into public lakes and parks and kept that way. “If someone doesn’t step in, they will revert to swampland,” Spain said.
The plan published on the organization’s website involves two phases. The first is focused on the health of the lakes, including the dredging and sculpting of the lake bottoms. The phase comes from an Army Corps of Engineers 2008 study that found the lakes’ health and depth to be in danger.
Dredging is the process by which sediment is removed from the bottom of the lakes. Sediment accumulates in the lakes from runoff and erosion and threatens the health of the lakes by reducing its depth, Spain said, noting University and Campus lakes are only two feet deep on average.
The lakes are popular for student recreation and recruiting assets to the University. Shallow water and invisible tree stumps are unsafe for students who want to get out on the water, Spain said.
The last time the lakes were dredged, which was 20 years ago, Spain said, a hydraulic hose was used to suck sediment up without draining the lake. While this method avoided the smells and unattractive appearance of the dry lakes, it was not effective in removing enough sediment and got hung up on the tree stumps that litter the lakebed under the water’s surface.
The second phase, focused on maximizing the lakes’ use, is several separate projects including construction of boat lodges, a promenade on sorority row, an event center across from The Cook Hotel at LSU and a bird observatory stand to greatly benefit University students.
“We acknowledge that [University] students are the largest users of the lakes,” Spain said, adding that Student Government was involved in the plan’s drafting.
Spain said the organization is unsure which method will be used to dredge the lake, but it will be the first opportunity to design the lakebed to support plants and fish properly. Estimates expect the dredging will excavate enough dirt to fill Tiger Stadium, Spain said, which will be used to fill and landscape the eroded shores of the lakes.
The plan requires work before it can be put into action, Spain said. BRAF’s vision for the lakes must be converted to technical construction plans. Assuming the organization gets the money it needs to move forward, it will still take up to 12 months to prepare for construction.
The Louisiana legislature secured $13 million for the Lakes project in this year’s session, but Spain said that money is still not fully realized and BRAF will not count it until they have it in cash. The dredging project alone is expected to cost up to $25 million, and only $3 million is expected to be available for BRAF to apply for this year.
Spain expects phase one will be completed in five years, but he said the organization cannot plan any specifics until funding is secured and projects documents have been prepared. Phase two is a series of projects that will likely be completed separately based on priority and funding availability.
BRAF doesn’t intend to pay for the projects, Spain said. The organization took responsibility for drafting plans for the lakes but will not be raising money for their completion.
“At some point, elected officials will have to take action,” Spain said. “The process will be uncomfortable. People don’t want to pay taxes, and there will be smells and noise.”
Spain said most residents who attended community meetings agreed the health of the lakes was important.
“Of course, some are going to disagree about how to get it done,” Spain said, “but most agree that we need to do something.”

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Courtesy of batonrougelakes.org