Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards yesterday signed an agreement allocating a total of $41.7 million to Lafourche Parish levee districts for storm protection projects.
The total includes $36 million of the State’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) funds and $5.6 million in surplus to the South Lafourche Levee District.
GOMESA is a critical funding stream established in 2006 to provide dedicated funds to Louisiana’s coastal program from qualified federal outer continental shelf revenues.
“ Today’s announcement signifies what is possible when state government has a productive relationship with local levee districts and coastal parishes. The funds we are announcing today will help provide the residents of Lafourche Parish the protection they need and deserve ,” said CPRA Chairman Chip Kline .
The North Lafourche Levee District has five projects slated for construction:
“ This isn’t a wish list; these are real projects for which we have the money ,” said Bren Haase, CPRA Executive Director . “ You’ll see some of them starting construction this year, and all of them could be in construction in the next year or two. And past that, we have a $3 million flood management project being planned for the Upper Barataria Basin .”
The South Lafourche Levee District has three projects slated for construction:
The recently completed project is the LA-1 Highway Floodgate, which raised the level of protection from 12 feet to 18 feet, replacing the less reliable temporary Hesco Basket closure.