Update (3/17/22):
On Wednesday, March 16, 2022, the CPRA Board unanimously passed the FY23 Annual Plan. The Plan must now make its way through the Louisiana Legislature. The 2022 Regular Session began Monday, March 14, 2022. Stay tuned for updates on how you can take action to request your legislators to support the Plan!
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The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has released the Integrated Ecosystem Restoration & Hurricane Protection in Coastal Louisiana: Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Plan, the agency’s annual spending plan.
For the first time, the agency is planning to spend over $1 billion on coastal protection and restoration in Louisiana! The draft plan outlines $1.3 billion for FY 2023 with 81% being directly allocated to constructing projects.
Fiscal Year 2023 is a pivotal moment for CPRA and our coast. This year marks a historic number of large-scale dredging projects, significant investments in hurricane protection, and the start of construction activities on a first-of-its-kind diversion project. Louisiana will see the benefits of the coastal projects being implemented this year for decades to come.
– Chip Kline, CPRA Chairman
Key takeaways highlighted by CPRA for the FY 2023 plan include:
- 92% of total expenditures will go toward project implementation and maintenance.
- 114 active projects: 76 in construction totaling more than $1 billion; 33 in engineering and design totaling over $80 million; $11 million for five projects in planning.
- 8 active projects in Southwest Louisiana, 39 in South Central Louisiana, and 67 in Southeast Louisiana.
- 18 dredging projects are slated for construction, using more than 79 million cubic yards of dredged material to create or nourish over 14,000 acres of coastal wetlands.
CPRA has remained unwavering in our commitment to fortifying Louisiana’s coast from Holly Beach to Hopedale. We are continuing this effort in Fiscal Year 2023 with the advancement of several record-breaking efforts, including the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, and the completion of 18 other highly-anticipated projects.
– Bren Haase, CPRA Executive Director
The public is now invited to review and comment on the draft Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Plan. A website has been set up to read the plan as well as view the Interactive FY23 Annual Plan. The interactive map highlights projects CPRA completed construction on in 2021 or those that reached milestones in the last year. It also features projects scheduled to reach major construction milestones or progress in timeline in 2022.
Public Meetings Scheduled
Four public meetings have been scheduled January 24-27 across coastal Louisiana and online. The draft plan will be presented to the public via public hearings on the following dates:
To join the online Zoom meeting on January 27:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7302095986?pwd=Y2xaa3p4RkFDWFk1S0Y4MWJwckd1dz09
Password: Coastal944
How to Comment
To submit comments at meetings:
Public comment can be submitted in person at the hearing(s) in writing or verbally.
Public comment during the virtual meeting may be submitted via the Zoom chat feature.
To submit comments by mail:
CPRA 2023 Annual Plan
150 Terrace Ave
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
To submit comments by email:
coastal@la.gov (Subject: FY2023 Annual Plan)
Deadline to comment is February 26, 2022.