VIDALIA — Water may have started rising in the reservoir areas of Concordia Parish, but emergency officials said the pumps in the south end of the parish are running.

Wednesday residents around large bodies of water such as Lake St. John noticed a precipitous rise in the water levels as run-off began to back flow into the basin areas.

The reason water is not flowing directly to the south of the parish, where the pumps are located, is because there is some plant and debris congestion in Cocodrie Bayou, the parish’s main drainage artery, Concordia Parish Emergency Director Morris White said.

“We can only pump it as fast as we can get it into the (pumping) area,” White said.

“We are very fortunate it stopped raining when it did.”

The pumps should be able to handle the water now, White said.

The Concordia Parish area received 22 inches of associated rain from Hurricane Gustav, White said.