La. Stat. tit. 38 § 315
Wherever there presently exists or may hereafter be created within the territorial limits of any levee district or levee and drainage district in the state of Louisiana, except in the parish of Orleans, any canal or other artificial waterway created by any levee district or levee and drainage district for the purpose of constructing a levee or other public work and where said canal or other artificial waterway is navigable in fact and connects with or enters into any lake, river, stream, bayou, or other navigable waters, the governing authority of said levee district or levee and drainage district shall have the authority, with the approval of the office of engineering of the Department of Transportation and Development or the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board, if the area is located within the coastal area, as defined in R.S. 49:214.2, and involves integrated coastal protection, as defined in R.S. 49:214.2, and with the concurrence of the United States district engineer, to dedicate and declare the canal or other artificial waterway, in whole or in part, as a waterway subject to the free and unrestricted navigation by the public; however, nothing herein shall be construed as authorizing the taking of private property, except as now provided by the constitution and laws of this state.
La. R.S. § 38:315