RESTORE Council and State Discuss Project Priorities
The RESTORE Council released their Draft Funded Priority List (FPL) in early August, and the State discussed their project priorities at the August CPRA meeting.
The federal entity responsible for 30 percent of the Clean Water Act funding through the RESTORE Act known as the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council has released the draft Initial Funded Priorities List (draft FPL) or their initial priority list of specific projects and programs for 10 key watersheds across the Gulf, as well as Gulf-wide initiatives.
Using funds from only the settlement with Transocean, the Council, which is composed of federal officials and the governors of the five Gulf states, prioritized approximately $140 million of the $240 million made available to the council. In addition, the Council is reserving approximately $43.6 million for implementation of additional activities in the future, subject to further Council review. Click here to view the priority list by watershed. Louisiana received multiple projects on the list, including Bayou Dularge Ridge, Marsh and Hydrologic Restoration and the West Grand Terre Beach Nourishment and Stabilization, as well as Freshwater Reintroduction to Maurepas Swamp.
| Members of the RESTORE staff and State's Diversion Subcommittee tour the Maurepas project area earlier this year. |
The draft FPL is available for public and tribal review and comment through September 28. There will also be a series of public meetings; the Louisiana meetings are:
Sept. 15, 2015
Homer L. Hitt Alumni Center 2000 Lakeshore Drive, New Orleans
5:30 p.m. CDT
Sept. 16, 2015
Morgan City Municipal Auditorium 728 Myrtle St., Morgan City
Just days after the RESTORE Council's release of their draft Funded Priority List, the State once again discussed their project priorities for post-spill funding at their monthly CPRA meeting.
| CPRA tours portions of western Terrebonne that would benefit from freshwater water with concerned landowners. |
Click here for a presentation made by CPRA Executive Director Kyle Graham to the CPRA board on their list of "probable" projects by funding stream. The $7 billion list includes a mix of sediment diversions, barrier island restoration, and marsh creation, including projects like the HNC Lock, Increase Atchafalaya into Terrebonne, and East Timbalier. Many of the projects are components of the State's Master Plan, or have been previously discussed, and the State reiterated that much more work was needed before projects and plans were finalized. Click here and here for press articles on the presentation. |
Governor's Candidates Discuss Coastal Restoration at Forum
The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana partnered with nearly 30 diverse groups to present the forum, hosted by Nicholls State University.
Restore or Retreat's Executive Director Simone Maloz was one of three panelist and a moderator to ask the current top gubernatorial candidates questions specifically about restoration. The forum, hosted by Nicholls State University, was the first of its kind to specifically focus on coastal restoration. Questions provided in advance to the candidates focused on key areas like top priorities in their first days in office, advancing diversions as a key component of the State's Master Plan, as well as other large scale projects, and how to protect existing funding and securing future funding.
After warm welcomes from Nicholls State University Presdent Dr. Bruce Murphy and CRCL Executive Director Kim Reyner, Congressman Garret Graves of Louisiana's 6th District, which includes Nicholls State University, delivered opening remarks about the importance of restoration to our State and nation's economic future.
Click here to watch a replay of the forum and here for the article by the Daily Comet on the forum.
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