Federal funding for the Basin brings optimism and new concerns

A state task force with responsibility for the Atchafalaya Basin met Thursday in Franklin, and heard that federal money is flowing like the river in a spring flood. Some of that money is headed for St. Mary Parish for dredging and levee improvements.

But there is also concern that the cash infusion will resurrect a study of the Lower Mississippi River that could provide ammunition for those who want to divert more water -- real floodwater -- from the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya. That could mean more and more severe flooding in east St. Mary, and more of the sediment that the feds have spent millions to remove from local waterways.

The meeting at the St. Mary Parish Courthouse brought together members of the Atchafalaya Basin Enhancement and Restoration Task Force. Chaired by Chip Kline, who also chairs the Costal Protection and Restoration Authority board, the task force was created by Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Its purpose is to raise awareness about issues affecting flood control, navigation and restoration in the Basin; to build consensus around beneficial projects and advise the Atchafalaya Basin Program; and to identify one-time and recurring sources of money for all of the above.

Brian Lezina of the CPRA was the task force's guide through the twists, turns and tributaries of Basin project funding and a maze of plans and studies.

The funding news included tens of millions headed into the Basin through the newly passed federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, disaster aid and work plan funding authorized for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which handles the federal levee system and major dredging projects.

The funding includes $10 million for the Bayou Sale project, which would close a gap in the levee beneath the La. 317 bridge; $10 million for dredging in the Morgan City-Berwick area; and $33 million for dredging on the Atchafalaya near the Gulf and in the Chene, Boeuf and Black bayous.

While the dredging may help business interests by keeping commercially important waterways open, it serves another purpose, said Port of Morgan City Executive Director Raymond "Mac" Wade, who sits on the task force board. It helps reduce flooding by providing more capacity within the banks of the river and bayous.

There was praise from the task force for the New Orleans District of the Corps of Engineers, which put together lists of projects to send up the funding chain, and for Louisiana's U.S. senators and the state's U.S. House delegation.

"I've never seen anything like it," Wade said.

Other sources of funding and other projects didn't fare as well.

The state government has a funding mechanism available for the Atchafalaya Basin. It's triggered when mineral revenue reaches a certain threshold. Lezina said that threshold has never been reached.

One local project, a walking trail behind the Cajun Coast Welcome Center in Morgan City, has been on the drawing board for years. But there was no news about new funding Thursday.

Kline urged the task force to seek every available source of recurring and one-time money available for work in the Basin.

"We cannot rely on our traditional funding structure," Kline said.

He also urged the task force to support the Shoreline Health Oversight, Restoration, Resilience and Enhancement Act, the SHORRE Act.

The bill, introduced by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Tom Carper, D-Del., is designed to increase flood protection by making coastal restoration a higher priority for the Corps of Engineers. It would also reduce the states' share of funding for projects covered by the act and provide up-front money instead of reimbursement for local partners in some circumstances.

All the good news about funding had a potential downside if viewed from the lower Atchafalaya, or an upside from the viewpoint to Mississippians hoping to protect that state from freshwater inundation in flood times.

The fear here is that a stalled study of the lower Mississippi known as OMAR, for the Old, Mississippi, Atchafalaya and Red rivers, would find new funding and eventually support the claims of Mississippians seeking to protect their area from flooding when the Bonnet Carre Spillway is opened.

Mississippi interests have already filed a federal lawsuit challenging the frequent use of Bonnet Carre. The spillway, which was opened only 10 times between 1937 and 2011, has been opened five times since 2016 to relieve flooding along the Mississippi River. The flood of 2019 marked the first time the spillway was opened twice in the same year.

Opening the spillway diverts fresh water from the Mississippi into Lake Pontchartrain and on to Mississippi coast, where the lawsuit says it causes flooding, ecological disruption and damage to oyster beds.

Officials in that state have urged greater use of the Morganza Spillway, which means diverting more water into the Atchafalaya system. There has even been talk about increasing the share of the Mississippi River water that is diverted into the Atchafalaya at the Old River Structure from the current 30% regardless of the river stage. The 70-30 ratio is mandated by Congress.

"Folks, we haven't done real good handling the 30% ...," Wade told the task force members Thursday. "We need to keep an eye on this."

Local people had a chance to make remarks at the end of the meeting. Catherine Holcomb, president of the St. Mary Excel citizens group, urged the task force to support the designation of a National Estuarine Research Reserve in the Atchafalaya. Supporters hope a NERR site here would offer educational and economic opportunities.

A Louisiana Sea Grant panel has narrowed the list of possible NERR sites to the Atchafalaya, Pontchartrain and Barataria. The selection process is governed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Kline told Holcomb that he met with NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad in late February in Washington.

"He had very, very positive things to say about a NERR in the Atchafalaya," Kline said.