Posted on January 23, 2023
Officials with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority are forging ahead with a new coastal master plan for 2023, and are now moving into a public comment phase through March.
CPRA officials discussed progress with the plan Wednesday during a meeting before the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board in Baton Rouge.
“We have an unprecedented opportunity in front of us,” board chair Chip Kline said of the 50-year plan. “There are a lot of issues that come before this board, and none is more important than the process we’re going through to update the plan. It is the most important work this board does.”
The 2023 plan builds on the previous master plan’s efforts to reduce storm surge-based flood risk, provide habitats to support an array of commercial and recreational activities, and support infrastructure critical to the working coast over the next five decades.
“The annual plan presented to the Legislature this year will surpass last year’s plan” with an estimated $25 billion in restoration projects, Klein said.
The new plan includes fresh metrics for predicting future damage, with expected dollars of damage and “expected annual structural damage” included in calculations, says Stuart Brown, a CPRA assistant administrator of strategic planning. Read the full story from The Center Square.
