The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) joined yesterday with federal agencies in a Dedication Ceremony spotlighting $214 million in coastal projects in Louisiana.
CPRA is the state sponsor for all Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) projects.
CWPPRA project federal partners include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Dept. of Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, EPA, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Following the ceremony, federal and state officials toured the nearby active construction site of Bayou Bonfouca Marsh Creation, a $28.2 million CWPPRA project in partnership between CPRA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
This project is rebuilding and armoring vulnerable reaches of Lake Pontchartrain’s northeastern shoreline, by creating or nourishing nearly 1,000 acres of intermediate marsh.
“ The CWPPRA program has been a vital and steady revenue stream for Louisiana coastal master plan projects, ” said CPRA Chairman Johnny Bradberry. “ Since 1990 there has never been a year when we didn’t have the CWPPRA program making some kind of investment in our coast.”
In addition to its direct funding assistance for ecosystem restoration projects that build land, marsh and barrier islands, CWPPRA has built the Coast-wide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) a network of 392 monitoring sites providing invaluable scientific data. There are multiple stations within each site, for water, vegetation, etc.
During the event, other southeast Louisiana CWPPRA projects were also highlighted that are now in progress or already accomplished in partnership with CPRA.
These include: