As a by-product of Beaumont’s salt water barrier’s success, less fresh water is entering places like Keith Lake, where the water was already brackish, Hallmark said.

Installation of the baffles should slow down the intrusion of salt water into Keith Lake, he said.

“They have a lot of alligators, ducks, geese and frogs, and all the things that live in fresh water,” Hallmark said. “By slowing this salt water intrusion, that will keep vegetation from dying and keep Keith Lake from becoming one big old saltwater lake.”

Also approved was an estimated $180 per diem cost for Jefferson County Emergency Management Director Greg Fountain to attend the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla. on March 27.

Fountain is one of seven people selected from Texas to attend the national conference.

“We’ll be studying anything from terminology to weather patterns, steering currents, or how to track a storm. Hurricane 101 is what they call this course,” Fountain said.

Fountain will represent the Sabine Study Area which includes Jefferson and Orange County.

Contact this reporter at skoonce@panews.com