BATON ROUGE - Despite the flooding that struck south Louisiana in August, prospects for a decades-old project aimed at protecting Baton Rouge area homes remain murky.

The 12-mile structure is called the Comite River Diversion Canal. It would siphon high water from the Comite River, sending it instead to the Mississippi River.

The Advocate of Baton Rouge reports that officials estimate that the project would have reduced the number of damaged and destroyed homes in the Baton Rouge area by about 25 percent if it had been in place in August.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy and other state officials say the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the main stumbling block. Corps officials say lack of money is the chief impediment.