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Congress is sending legislation to the President’s desk that will provide the authority and financial flexibility to better protect and restore coastal Louisiana in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The U.S. Senate has passed the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA) by a vote of 97-1, following the U.S. House of Representatives passage of the bill by a 399-18 vote on December 10.
Of the 17 projects cleared for construction, Louisiana secured the largest project authorization in this bill, with the $5.9 billion St. Tammany Flood Risk Management Project, which is more than twice the size of the next largest project.
Upon completion, the project will significantly reduce flood risks for over 26,000 structures, most of which are residences, throughout St. Tammany Parish, LA. For this project, the 65 percent federal share exceeds $3.7 billion, with the 35 percent non-Federal share comprised of nearly $2.3 billion.
WRDA 2024 also provided Louisiana the opportunity to broaden its partnership with USACE across coastal Louisiana. Congress authorized a study of the Lake Pontchartrain Storm Surge Reduction project, allowing USACE to determine if a Coastal Master Plan proposal to reduce flood risk in the nine parishes that border the lake is in the federal interest.
Additionally, the legislation expanded the scope of the Alexandria to the Gulf study to include seven other parishes, aligning the study with the Louisiana Watershed Initiative’s Region 5 territory.
The full news release of the WRDA Act of 2024 can be viewed here .