Levees on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River are holding up, but levee district and parish officials say they are continuing to fight sand boils and watching lake levels.

The challenge, 5th Louisiana Levee District President Reynold Minsky said, is getting on top of the boils as they appear and containing them with sandbags.

“We’ve got the sand boils under control as best we can at Lake Bruin, and we’re working to keep up with the sand boils at Lake St. John,” Minsky said. “We found two sand boils around Lake St. John that weren’t there the other day.”

The 5th Louisiana Levee District covers 355 miles of Mississippi River levee in East Carroll, Madison, Tensas and Concordia parishes in Louisiana. Minsky said the sand boils are scattered throughout the levee district. He said the boils are not unusual.

“This is really a normal situation for the conditions we’re in,” he said. “It’s nothing that we haven’t expected to happen. The boils we’re finding are occurring in the same areas they usually do, just in different spots.”

Madison Parish Homeland Security Director Earl Pinkney said levee district officials made a controlled cut in an inside levee at Lake Palmyra about four weeks ago to relieve pressure on the mainline levee. Since the cut was made, Pinkney said, there have been no problems other than sand boils.

“We’re keeping on top of those,” he said. “Things are looking pretty good right now. The levees are in pretty good shape, and I hope they stay that way. A lot of people are praying, and somebody’s prayers are being answered.”

The high water has caused some concern for the levels of Lake Bruin near St. Joseph, and Lake St. John, which are inside the levee system. Minsky said both lakes are in good shape.

Tensas Parish Police Juror Jane Netterville, who lives on Lake Bruin and represents the police jury district that includes the lake, said a recent rumor circulated in the area that Lake Bruin was going to rise by 6 feet. She said the rumor caused some people in the area to pull their boats from the lake.

“The lake is not going to rise,” she said. “Water is being drained through the control structure into the Tensas River. The river is low, and it’s not backing up.”