Louisiana Faces Coastal Restoration Funding Challenges
In the next several years, Louisiana faces serious challenges funding the state's share of scheduled hurricane protection and coastal restoration projects. Louisiana's share of such projects scheduled for fiscal year (fy) 2009 is $1.2 billion. While Louisiana's recent special session received significant media coverage in part because of the appropriation of $300 million for hurricane protection and coastal restoration projects, this funding is far short of the money required to cover the state's burden for projects planned by the federal government.
Even when this $300 million additional appropriation is combined with the prior budget of $224 million, the state is still short of the needed funding for fy 2009. In 2010 and beyond, the state's funding challenges continue. Louisiana will need $748 million in 2010 and $642 million in 2011 to cover Louisiana's share of federal led hurricane protection and coastal wetland restoration projects with considerable emphasis in all of these years on hurricane protection projects.
These projects are indispensable to the future of Louisiana, and the state will have to find new funding sources to cover the costs. Even if all of these scheduled projects are fully funded, the spending proposed for coastal wetland restoration and protection is still far short of the need.
Louisiana is no where near the level of funding needed for a material coastal wetland protection much less a restoration program. For more information on these funding challenges, see March 19, 2008 Times Picayune article, Coastal Authority to Meet Today to Talk Funding.
Erich P. Rapp.
