BATON ROUGE — It should come as no surprise that the Comite Diversion completion date has been pushed back once again, as its new completion date is scheduled to be the end of 2026.

"A lot of now are resigned to the fact we'd like to see it in our lifetime," said Robert Burns, who heads Concerned Citizens for Drainage Improvement. He and his group have been persistent in keeping the project at the forefront of politician's agendas, particularly with Congressman Garret Graves.

They're concerned Graves' decision not to run again this year, may cause the project to fall to the wayside.

"The money is not the issue. The issue has always been and will continue to be the lack of a sense of urgency," Burns said.

Graves successfully revived the dormant project in 2018 by securing federal funding.

"Look, I'm not going to deny the fact that there is a relationship between the fact that this project is now moving and funded and my background. This is what I did in the private sector. It's what I did for the state of Louisiana and that knowledge and experience was very helpful and candidly, this project wouldn't have moved forward without me having that background to bring to the table," Graves said.

When the price tag ballooned to nearly a billion dollars, Graves found the funds. He hopes having that money already secured will make it easy for his successor to see it through.

"We've got nearly a billion dollars banked on the project. We've got it on a trajectory to be finished. I think we have overcome probably five of the six big obstacles or hurdles on this project and I think that that momentum is hopefully going to keep us going to the finish line," he said.

However, he recognizes a pot of money like that could easily be re-appropriated to other' politicians' pet projects.

"I'd like to think that there would be some resistance and a fight put up if anything like that happens and I'll just say even with our departure, I'd be surprised if this money gets stolen as long as this project stays on track and continues to have construction contracts ongoing," Graves said.

Congresswoman Julia Letlow, whose newly drawn district now includes parts of the Comite, said in a statement sent to WBRZ that, "as Louisiana's only member of the House who serves on the Appropriations Committee, I'll work to not only ensure that the Comite diversion has the critical funding it needs, I'll also use the power of the purse to hold the Corps of Engineers accountable and ensure they deliver on their promises."

Graves has not said what he plans to do after finishing his term, but says no matter what it is, he will be involved in making sure the project gets finished.