VIDALIA — Concordia Parish Homeland Security Director Payne Scott said the water levels on the local lakes and rivers are starting to approach houses.

The rising river and lake levels comes on the wake of, in some cases, record rainfall north of the parish, where as much as 2 feet of precipitation was recorded.

Scott said the lakes, particularly the Horseshoe and Black, are the major concern.

“Around the Monterey area, the water is getting pretty close to some homes,” he said. “On the Horseshoe, I saw one house on the lakeside that has a staircase behind it. The water has gotten up to the rungs of the steps.”

The Mississippi, Black and Tensas rivers are entering flood stages, but Scott said the river flooding would likely impact Catahoula Parish more than Concordia Parish.

“The only homes that I am aware of that are outside of the levee are basically on piers or stilts,” he said. “I don’t think it will affect us that much unless its effects backflow into the lakes.”

Scott said water level data on the lakes are not kept in detail like river levels are, so he couldn’t say just how much lake levels have risen.

“I’m not going to say it is unprecedented because I’m sure it has happened before, but the lakes are extremely high right now,” he said. “In the past, we’ve just kept an eye on them. The (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) don’t put gauges on the lakes like they do the rivers.”

Scott said the parish is waiting on the Corps of Engineers to decide if pumping the lakes is necessary.The Black River at Jonesville was in minor flood stage on Wednesday at 50.6. Scott said it is over the banks but has yet to reach the levee.

The river is projected to hit 56 feet on March 22, and that will put it into moderate flood stage. The Black River enters major flood stage at 60 feet.

The Tensas River at Clayton is also supposed to hit moderate flood stage on March 22 at 58. The record crest is 60.1, Scott said.

Currently, National Weather Service projections do not go beyond those dates, as more rain is predicted to fall in the coming days.

The Mississippi River is at 50.31 feet right now, which is at the minor flood stage. While the moderate flood stage is 51, the Mississippi is supposed to start going down.

“These projections do not take into account the future rainfall, so it’ll be something to keep watching,” Scott said.