Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

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Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana
Louisiana CPRA logo.png
Agency overview
Formed2005 (2005)
Jurisdiction Louisiana Coastal Zone
Headquarters Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Annual budget$1.7 b USD (2025)
Agency executives
Parent departmentOffice of the Governor of Louisiana
Website https://coastal.la.gov/

The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is a governmental authority created by the Louisiana State Legislature in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to combat the ongoing erosion of Louisiana's coast. The CPRA reports to the Office of the Governor of Louisiana. [1] The organization takes advantage of both federal and state funding of around $1 billion annually. [2]

Contents

Since its founding, the organization has completed over 140 projects, benefitting 55,807 acres (87.198 sq mi) of land, placing 193 million cubic yards of sediment, improving 369 miles (594 km) of levees, and restoring 71.6 miles (115.2 km) of barrier islands. [3] CPRA predicts that, without action over the next 50 years, between 1,100 and 3,000 square miles (2,800 and 7,800 km2) of coastal land may be lost, depending on a low (1.6 feet (0.49 m)) or high (2.5 feet (0.76 m)) forecast of local sea level rise. [3] [4]

History

The creation of CPRA was ordered by U.S. Congress in Pub. L.   109–148 (text) (PDF). [5] The CPRA's forerunner, the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Authority, was restructured as the CPRA by Act 8 of the First Extraordinary Session of 2005 [1] when the tasks of coastal restoration and hurricane protection were consolidated under a single authority. The authority is responsible for overseeing all levee districts in the Louisiana Coastal Zone and dispersal of funding from Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Trust Fund to be used exclusively for wetland restoration and hurricane protection projects. Act 8 defines the CPRA's mandate as, "hurricane protection and the protection, conservation, restoration, and enhancement of coastal wetlands and barrier shorelines or reefs." Additionally, the act defined the term "coastal area" as the Louisiana Coastal Zone and contiguous areas that are subject to storm or tidal surge. [1]

In April 2007, the CPRA submitted Louisiana's first ever Comprehensive Master Plan for coastal restoration and hurricane protection to the state's legislature for approval. The legislature approved the plan unanimously. Entitled: "Integrated Ecosystem Restoration and Hurricane Protection: Louisiana's Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast," the Master Plan represents an overarching vision that fully incorporates hurricane protection projects and structures with coastal wetland and hydrology restoration projects. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials will use the CPRA Master Plan as the cornerstone of the Congressionally mandated Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration (LaCPR) Report scheduled to be written and submitted to Congress by December 2007.[ needs update ]

In 2012, an article in The New York Times reviewed the current state of improvements to New Orleans defenses. [6] August 24, 2015, an article in The Huffington Post titled "10 Years After Katrina, Louisiana Is Becoming A Model For Climate Resilience" summarized the current state of Louisiana's shoreline and coastal community protection. [7]

Plan for a Sustainable Coast

Every five to six years CPRA must submit a revised plan to the state legislature. The current plan is the 2023 Master Plan, which was passed unanimously by the state legislature in May 2023. [8]

Projects detailed in the plan fall into the following categories:

Projects

There are many projects listed on both the CPRA and CWPPRA websites, and both sites have interactive maps to readily display projects.

As of 2023, Louisiana's Coastal Master Plan [3] intends two diversions:

Current members

Districts

The following Levee Districts are overseen by the CPRA.

Additionally, decisions are pending on the Southwest Louisiana Parishes of Cameron, Vermillion and Iberia.[ needs update ]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 SB71 Act No. 8. Louisiana State Senate. 2005. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  2. ↑ Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. 2024. Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Plan. https://coastal.la.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/FINAL-CPRA_FY25-AP_20240228_print-compressed.pdf. Accessed 2024-04-06.
  3. 1 2 3 "2023 Coastal Master Plan". Coastal Protection And Restoration Authority. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Louisiana fights the sea, and loses". The Economist. August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006" (PDF). Farm Service Agency. December 30, 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  6. ↑ Schwartz, John (June 14, 2012). "Vast Defenses Now Shielding New Orleans". New York Times.
  7. ↑ Sheppard, Kate (August 24, 2015). "10 Years After Katrina, Louisiana Is Becoming A Model For Climate Resilience". huffintonpost.com. Huffington Post. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Gov. Edwards, CPRA Celebrate Passage of 2023 Coastal Master Plan and FY 2024 Annual Plan". Coastal Protection And Restoration Authority. May 25, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  9. ↑ Mooney, Chris; Murphy, Zoeann; Carioti, Ricky; Muyskens, John (August 7, 2023). "Facing the surge". Washington Post. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
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