Posted on March 18, 2021
Tens of millions of dollars in key flood-protection and coastal-restoration projects are included in the state’s draft spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s draft budget for fiscal 2022 calls for spending $887 million across the state’s coast, 71% of going directly to constructing projects.
Some of the projects are underway, others will get started before or during the next fiscal year.
“In spite of the many challenges we’ve all faced over the past year, CPRA pressed on and remained steadfast in our commitment to advance projects and fortify our working coast,” agency Chairman Chip Kline said in a news release. “As our coastal program moves forward, we will continue to see these highly-anticipated projects come to life.”
Here are some of the biggest projects in Terrebonne and Lafourche included in the spending plan, along with their total value. Not all of the total amounts will be spent during fiscal 2022 but may be spread over a longer time frame:
— Prep work is expected to begin this summer on a $366 million lock that will protect Houma and other parts of Terrebonne from Gulf of Mexico storm flooding. The Houma Navigation Canal Lock is the linchpin to the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane-protection system, a 98-mile collection of levees, locks and floodgates that protects nearly 200,000 residents in Terrebonne and parts of Lafourche. The lock is expected to be complete in May 2024.
— Construction will be complete by September on an $80 million floodgate on Bayou Chene that protects about 100,000 residents in parts of Terrebonne, Lafourche and four other parishes from river flooding. Construction began last summer.
— Construction will begin by early next year on the $162 million Terrebonne Basin Ridge and Marsh Creation Project. The work will restore and maintain up to 1,430 acres of eroding saltwater marsh and 80 acres of earthen ridge on the eastern side of Bayou Terrebonne, south of Chauvin. The project, scheduled for completion in December 2024, is part of a larger effort to restore around 5,000 acres of ridge and marsh habitat in the Terrebonne Basin.
