LIVINGSTON - Decades of flooding frustrations could soon turn into real progress for thousands of Louisiana residents; a long-awaited master plan to tackle flooding along the Amite Rover is finally in motion. 

A master plan to mitigate flooding among seven parishes along the Amite River was approved Tuesday in Livingston by the Amite River Basin Commission.

"Usually a master plan can take multiple years but we were given a short timeline by the legislative mandates and we maintained our schedule," President of the Amite River Basin Commission John Clark said. 

The Amite River impacts seven parishes, and residents along the more than 2,200 square miles of the river have seen issues in flooding for decades, most recently in 2016.

“It made people circle back and realize we need to prioritize and take action or else mother nature is going to take action on us like she has been," Clark said. 

The commission said this plan can save basin residents $264 million a year in average annual flood losses. The goal is to re-direct the river waters when major storms plow through the state. 

“For example, Ascension, they'll be working on a new pump station on New River that's going to pump water out of the Amite River Basin into the Mississippi River. Also for Bayou Manchac, to help that water get out of Bayou Manchac, to provide relief for East Baton Rouge, to provide relief to Iberville Parish and relief to Ascension Parish, we formed a tri-parish partnership agreement," Clark said. 

Residents will soon see these plans in action. 

"Eventually they're going to see action, they're going to see dirt being turned whereas it's just been a plan, it's just been studies, individual studies," Clark said. 

Though the plan is finalized, making a difference will take a while. 

"We have short term projects and long term projects, there's things that's in the works right now that are going to make a difference but we're also looking down the road for a more long term, grander scale," Clark said.

You can see the master plan on the commission's website here.