Louisiana Coastal Master Plan Gets Support

The state’s revised 50-year comprehensive Coastal Master Plan to protect and restore Louisiana’s endangered coast, was heard by the Louisiana Senate Natural Resources committee, along with the Fiscal Year 2018 annual plan for project expenditures in the upcoming state fiscal year.

Both plans were approved and will await a hearing on the Senate floor when, pending approval, will advance to the House Transportation and House Natural Resources committees and finally the House floor.

Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan coordinates Louisiana’s response to the land loss crisis and threats from hurricanes and surge events. The Coastal Master Plan is a fully integrated plan to build and maintain land and reduce risk to our communities via the identification and implementation of projects and programs.

The Coastal Master Plan is the State’s framework to work through the difficult decisions. The Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Plan is a three-year implementation schedule for projects that also identifies funding schedules and budgets for those projects.

Johnny Bradberry, Executive Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Activities and Board Chairman, addressed the central objectives of the Coastal Master Plan: flood protection, coastal habitat restoration and the need to harness natural processes, saying: “Our state is not sustainable if people cannot keep water out of their homes and if residents and businesses must constantly take on the economic hardships of flood response and recovery.”

“But, the ecosystem is also essential; it provides a buffer against storms that not only protect near shore economic assets like pipelines, ports and navigation channels, and energy extraction, but it also protects our communities and the workers that must live along the coast.”

Following the master plan presentation, Lacy McManus, Director of Program Development at Greater New Orleans, Inc. also voiced support on behalf of the 10-parish regional economic development alliance.