National Wildlife Federation, Tulane Issue Recommendations for a More Resilient New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS -- Today the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and the Tulane University ByWater Institute released recommendations on how the City of New Orleans can "actively build coastal resiliency across the metro region."

It's no secret that New Orleans has lost an area the size of Rhode Island, over 2,000 square miles in 80 years, due to coastal erosion. With climate change threatening to amp up extreme weather events, there's never been a more critical time to rally forces and buttress the Big Easy. To the extent that that's possible, of course.

The recommendations announced today derive from a planning session held earlier this year when 40 representatives of business and industry, state and local governments, academia, non-profit organizations and community-based groups met to discuss how NOLA can assist in making coastal Louisiana more physically, economically and socially resilient, according to an NWF release.

The report's executive summary states that, "According to the State of Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan, a future without action could mean a loss of roughly 2,250 square miles of land over the next 50 years."

The recommendations center around: coordinating with regional partners across city departments, communicating the rationale for immediate and sustained action and promoting equitable solutions that enable New Orleans and the region to thrive.

“The reality is that, while many residents may not think of New Orleans this way, our Crescent City is a coastal city,” said David Muth , director of NWF’s Gulf Restoration Program. “Healthy coastal wetlands all around New Orleans provide a critical buffer from storm surge and protection for our communities. Without them, our citizens are at increased risk from the impacts of extreme storms and sea level rise.”

Tulane President Mike Fitts said the report highlights the inextricable link between the future of New Orleans and future of Louisiana’s coast.

“As our home for 184 years, the health and sustainability of New Orleans as a coastal city is a top priority of Tulane University,” he said.

Muth said the recommendations provide steps forward in creating a path of forward-thinking resilience, accounting for coastal adaptation and restoration of wetlands: maintaining affordable insurance options for residents and businesses, supporting New Orleans communities inside and outside the levee system, creating an economic development plan for the water economy and engaging youth in issues related to coastal environments.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu weighed in: “Climate change is a threat that affects us all, and it is a real and present danger to our coastal communities. Here in Louisiana, we face a triple threat: subsidence, coastal erosion and sea level rise. If unchecked, New Orleans, like many coastal cities, will cease to exist. Time is of the essence in combatting this critical existential threat, and our coastal city is on the front line.”

The full report can be found here.

Photos by Laurie Wiegler: New Orleans' Napoleon House restaurant and bar and flying out of the Big Easy after the BP oil spill, Aug. 2010.

Restore Council approves BP spill Louisiana State expenditure plan for $811.9M

The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council Chair, U.S. Department of Agriculture, has approved the Louisiana State Expenditure Plan. The Council chair has found the Louisiana SEP is complete and meets all requirements contained in the RESTORE Act, the Department of the Treasury’s implementing regulations, and the Council’s SEP Guidelines, according to a press release issued today.

The USDA provided Louisiana with a letter of approval, reiterating the Council’s commitment to ensuring an efficient and effective process for funding the activities in Louisiana. More information regarding the projects funded with the BP oil spill award dollars was covered in today's press release, which states in part:

"Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) announces that the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council) and the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) have both accepted the CPRA’s First Amended Multiyear Implementation and State Expenditure Plan (RESTORE Plan) under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act). This plan describes how the state intends to spend its total allocation of $811.9 million over 15 years from both the Spill Impact Component and the Direct Component of the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund (RESTORE Trust Fund). With the plan officially accepted by both agencies, CPRA can now apply for grants to begin implementing the important projects and programs described in the plan."

In September 2015, Louisiana was the first state to have a plan for spending then-available Direct Component funds from the Transocean Deepwater settlement, $39 million. The Bayou State is now the first to have a plan accepted by both Treasury and the RESTORE Council for the expenditure of all of its Direct Component and Spill Impact Component funds from the Transocean, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and BP Exploration & Production Inc. settlements over 15 years. The activities include:

- the Calcasieu Salinity Control Measures project ($260.4 million) under the Direct Component

- The Houma Navigation Canal Lock Complex ($366 million), Adaptive Management ($60.9 million), the CPRA-Parish Matching Opportunities Program (up to $100 million), and contingency funds (approximately $24.6 million) under the Spill Impact Component.

According to the press release, the Calcasieu Salinity Control Measures project is southwest Louisiana's largest ecosystem restoration project. "Additionally, the Adaptive Management program will allow us to identify sustainable implementation solutions in a dynamic ecosystem while the Parish Matching program will enable us to partner with coastal parishes to advance comprehensive integrated coastal protection projects of particular local concern”, said Michael Ellis, Executive Director of the CPRA.

The RESTORE Act allocates 80 percent of all Clean Water Act penalties paid by those responsible for the 2010 BP oil spill to the RESTORE Trust Fund for the restoration and protection of the Gulf Coast region. The Act contains five funding components, one of which directs 35 percent of funds deposited into the trust fund to each of the five Gulf Coast states in equal shares for ecological and economic restoration (the “Direct Component”), and one of which directs 30 percent of the funds deposited in the trust fund to each of the five Gulf Coast states to address the ecological and economic impacts from the oil spill based on a formula established by the Council.

For more information, please visit: The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, "The State of Louisiana's First Amended RESTORE Plan".

Photo: courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Images, then EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson surveying the oil in the Gulf of Mexico at Grand Isle, La., June 11, 2010, EPA photo.

Louisiana's coastal communities an ongoing emergency according to coastal summit leaders

Urging citizens, government, businesses and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to recognize a continuous storm destroying Louisiana's coast, King Milling, chair of America's WETLAND Foundation (AWF), opened a summit on the national significance of Louisiana's coastal master plan today. Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) & AWF hosted the Summit on the National Significance of Louisiana's Coastal Master Plan. The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is a governmental authority created by the Louisiana Legislature following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

AWF shared in a press release tonight that Milling said today: "The lower Mississippi will be threatened by future storms that will materially impact international trade and commerce, which has been the cornerstone of wealth and community vitality from Arkansas to Minnesota. These conditions constitute the very definition of emergency."

The summit, held at Louisiana State University, followed two leadership roundtables convened by AWF and the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) held this past autumn where topics surrounding Louisiana's Coastal Master Plan and its funding were discussed. "If we do not pursue the mandates in the plan and continue the implementation of the planning process, the result will be a catastrophe, not just for Louisiana but for much of the nation as well. Without that effort, towns and communities across the delta are at risk, and close to two-million people will be uprooted," Milling said.

The summit drew panels of coastal leaders who have been advocating for wetlands restoration for more than a decade. Governor John Bel Edwards told the assembly that securing passage by the legislature of the 2017 Master Plan was essential. "I want you to own this plan, I need you to help me build this plan," Governor Edwards said, "This is not just CPRA's plan or my plan. This is Louisiana's plan - the best set of projects and programs to build land and reduce the risk of storm surge flooding to protect and secure our state, our citizens, and our resources. We know this plan does not do everything for everyone but does accept the reality that we don't have unlimited dollars to do what we need to do. This plan does identify the best projects that can make the biggest impact."

A review of the 2017 Coastal Master Plan by CPRA chief of planning, Bren Haase, led to discussions as to why the plan was of national significance, how Louisiana has become a bellwether for discovering restoration solutions as coastal states face sea level rise, and what can be done now before Louisiana's loss of coastal land becomes irreversible.

Former U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu said, "Efforts are underway in Congress to expand the use of offshore royalties for both Gulf restoration and other environmental issues nationwide."

A media panel of journalists including Mark Schleifstein of NOLA.com,f Bob Marshall of The Lens, John Snell of Fox8 New Orleans and former Advocate reporter Amy Wold discussed covering news coming out of the new master plan. "Sea level rise is the big story," said Wold, who is now employed by The Water Institute of the Gulf. "The non-structural aspects - elevation of homes and relocation of people will be the news in the next decade. People who live in places they thought were not a risk, are now finding they are."

During discussion of the rationale for funding America's coasts, Adam Davis, of Ecosystem Investment Partners, said, "The notion of performance-based contracting is for the private contractor to take on the risk. He gets paid only after completing the work to government standards and this will be a viable practice for years into the future. The main role of the private sector is to deliver restoration effectively." He added, "It is possible for the private sector to triple the amount of acreage called for in the master plan. We must strive to accelerate the rate of restoration."

The 2017 Coastal Master Plan goes before the Louisiana legislature this April for approval. It is mandated by law to be revised every five years to take into consideration the dynamics of the coast and new science and technology.

This Summit was held in cooperation with National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Environmental Defense Fund, the Mississippi River Delta Coalition, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and the Louisiana Offshore Terminal Authority and was supported by: Entergy, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Ducks Unlimited, and Louisiana Sea Grant. Photo: Wikimedia Commons Images. Northshore Near Pontchatoula flooding aftermath of Isaac.jpg (category Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana); Southeastern Louisiana; aerial view near Pontchatoula, Tangipahoa Parish, after Hurricane Isaac. Photos by Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

Summit on the significance of Louisiana's Coastal Master Plan tomorrow

Tomorrow at Louisiana State University's Lod Cooke Alumni Center in Baton Rouge, La., Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) & America's WETLAND Foundation (AWF) are hosting a Summit on the National Significance of Louisiana's Coastal Master Plan.

The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is a governmental authority created by the Louisiana Legislature following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Tomorrow's day-long event follows two leadership forums convened in October last year to address how to make the state's master plan work. During the summit, "coastal leaders will take stock of goals set in motion 15 years ago" and that, CPRA continues in its press release, "provided the framework and model for comprehensive large-scale restoration."

Coastal stakeholders from the private and public sectors will join scientists, coastal experts and state coastal managers to address opportunities of national significance for Louisiana's coastal master plan. Attendees include: Governor John Bel Edwards, Former Governor Kathleen Blanco, Former U.S. Senator, Mary Landrieu, Chair of CPRA, Johnny Bradberry, New Orleans District Commander for the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Col. Michael N. Clancy, Chairman of Governors Coastal Commission and the AWF, R. King Milling, Greater News Orleans Foundation, CEO, Andy Kopplin, and a panel of tv and print journalists.

The Coastal Master Plan's goal is a sustainable coastal Louisiana. The 2017 Coastal Master Plan will provide important information to Louisiana's coastal citizens, allowing them to protect their families, manage businesses, and plan for the future, according to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

Sessions include "Louisiana as the Bellwether in Coastal Restoration", moderated by former Senator Mary Landrieu, Dr. Don Boesch of the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Sciences, and Justin Ehrenwerth, Pres. and CEO of Water Institute of the Gulf; and a panel on "The Continuous Storm: Making the Case for Urgent Action" moderated by Louisiana Governor Jon Bell Edwards, former governor Kathleen Blanco (2004-2008), a member of the Army Corps of Engineers, and someone from industry.

The meeting comes at at time when parts of the state have been recently battered by tornadoes and has been dealing with unseasonably torrential and warm weather.

Last year was the 11th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina's's devastation occurred because of levees breaching, not because of the hurricane itself. The pumping system was determined to have been antiquated, and the Army Corps of Engineers was sued. New levees went up around the Big Easy, but have been the subject of controversy further away from New Orleans. Braithwaite, La., for example, suffered massive flooding in late August, 2012.

Mardis Gras season in the Big Easy is well underway, with Fat Tuesday Feb. 28.

For more about the summit, click here.

Photo: via Wikimedia Commons Images. Louisiana National Guard UH-60 Black Hawks of the 1st Battalion, 244th Aviation Regiment pick up bundles Christmas trees to drop into Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge to help rebuild the wetlands on March 30. The Christmas trees help to rebuild the missing wetlands that have been washed away over time by breaking waves and collecting silt for new vegetation to take root. (U.S. Air Force MSgt Toby M Valadie Louisiana National Guard State Public Affairs Office/Released) Unit: Louisiana Army and Air National Guard; Mar 20, 2010. By Sgt. Michael Owens, New Orleans, La. Source: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/265104/louisiana-national-guard-assists-with-coastal-restoration