Edwards announces $2.6B in USACE funding for Louisiana

January 20, 2022, by Eldin Ganic

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has announced that the state will receive $2.6 billion in USACE funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act (Supplemental Disaster Relief).

This funding will support coastal, water management, and hurricane risk reduction projects throughout south Louisiana.

The supplemental disaster relief bill provides resources for Louisiana to recover further from Hurricane Ida. Through the IIJA, Congress appropriated funds to USACE to increase coastal resilience by funding flood control, navigation, and ecosystem restoration projects.

The supplemental disaster relief bill includes over $2 billion in funding for coastal and other flood protection projects, including:

$783 million for New Orleans to Venice Hurricane Protection Project
$453 million for West Shore Lake Pontchartrain
$163 million for Atchafalaya Basin
$128 million for Comite River Diversion
$94.3 million for Southeast Louisiana
$8 million for Upper Barataria Basin
$3.8 million for Grand Isle and Vicinity
$3.5 million for Bayou Segnette Waterway
$3 million for Tangipahoa Parish

The IIJA includes over $643 million in funding for 21 Louisiana coastal and water management projects, including:

$378.5 million for Morganza to the Gulf
$125 million for Southwest Coastal
$52.9 million for Atchafalaya Basin
$23.2 million for the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

Additionally, USACE dedicated a cumulative $848 million across states bordering the Lower Mississippi River to reinforce levees and make improvements to the channel.