From CPRA: BATON ROUGE, LA - The state's revised 50-year comprehensive
master
plan to protect and restore Louisiana's endangered coast was approved by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (
CPRA) Board at its April monthly meeting, along with the Fiscal Year 2018 annual
plan for project expenditures in the upcoming state fiscal year. Both
plans have be submitted for legislative consideration.
Louisiana's Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast includes 124 projects that build or maintain more than 800 square miles of land and reduce expected damage by $8.3 billion annually by year 50, which equates to more than $150 billion over the next 50 years, and are expected to pay for themselves three times over the course of implementing the
plan. The diversity of projects in the
plan reflects the need to construct projects that build land and reduce risk in the near term, while also investing in projects like sediment diversions and structural protection projects that provide long-term benefits.
"Since entering the legislature, one issue that has remained outside of partisan politics is our coastal
master
plan. Citizens across Louisiana, from Bastrop to Cameron and Shreveport to Chalmette, all share a similar commitment to invest wisely in our coast because it is critical to our economy and our culture," said Senator Blade Morrish. "It's a tremendous privilege to champion the 2017 Coastal
Master
Plan this session and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and Senate to approve this
plan so that we can continue our critical work to protect and restore our coast."
Equal funding of $25 billion is allocated to restoration and risk reduction projects, and project selection was based on a project's effectiveness in providing near- and long-term land area or risk reduction benefits. More than two thirds of the investment in restoration is directed to marsh creation projects, while structural protection projects receive the largest investment of risk reduction funds. Sediment diversions from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers also remain a foundational part of the overall restoration strategy and a much more developed and defined "nonstructural" program is included, which recommends potential projects such as elevating homes and flood-proofing businesses in areas that are at risk or will become most at risk in future decades.
While the 2017 Coastal
Master
Plan looks out over 50 years and outlines the best projects to implement, building them requires funding, engineering and design, and environmental and feasibility assessments. The Fiscal Year 2018 Annual
Plan approved was sent to the legislature as the funding request for expenditures in the coming fiscal year to
Master
Plan projects that are in the process of moving toward construction. To view both approved
plans, go to
2017 Coastal Master Plan and
Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Plan.
For the state's 2018 fiscal year (
July 1, 2017 through
June 30, 2018)
CPRA
plans to implement $664 million worth of restoration and protection projects and initiatives. This includes $383 million for construction projects, $136.8 million for
planning, engineering and design of projects to be built in coming years, $47.2 million for operations, maintenance and monitoring of previously constructed projects, $45.9 million for ongoing programs and initiatives, and $31 million for operating costs.
"With more projects working their way toward construction, and with more revenue coming as a result of the BP oil spill, we expect expenditures to top $1 billion by fiscal year 2020," CPRA Executive Director Ellis reported to the
CPRA Board.
Presentations for other topics covered during the meeting can be found on the CPRA's calendar at are
www.coastal.la.gov.
