Locals can get a look at initiative to make St. Mary stronger

(Editor’s note: A public meeting about ARCH, the Atchafalaya River Coast Hub, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Morgan City Municipal Auditorium. St. Mary Excel submitted this story about the initiative.)
St. Mary Excel
The story of Morgan City and Berwick is fundamentally one of communities that have learned to work with water—sometimes turbulent, sometimes tranquil, always transformative. For more than 90 years, these twin cities along the Atchafalaya River have demonstrated that prosperity comes not from conquering nature, but from understanding and adapting to its rhythms. When the first boatload of jumbo shrimp arrived in 1937 from waters deeper than any small fishing vessel had previously explored, it came to a community already seasoned by storms. The Great Depression had devastated the cypress lumber industry, and the productive oyster beds had dried up. Yet from these challenges emerged opportunity—the transformation of Morgan City into the "Jumbo Shrimp Capital of the World."This pattern of turning environmental challenges into economic opportunities would repeat itself throughout the region's history. When Hurricane Andrew made landfall just 23 miles west-southwest of Morgan City in 1992—becoming the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history—the community didn't just rebuild; it innovated.
When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita submerged most of St. Mary Parish south of Highway 90 in 2005, causing an estimated $11.1 million in losses to seafood infrastructure alone, the region adapted its practices and strengthened its defenses.
Most recently, Hurricane Francine brought 10 inches of rain to Morgan City in less than a day on Sept. 11, 2024, damaging 350 homes. Yet within weeks, the community was not just recovering but planning for a more resilient future through the Atchafalaya River Coastal Hub (ARCH).
St. Mary Excel:
From vision to action
The journey from the Urban Land Institute’s 2018 recommendation to today’s implementation-ready ARCH strategic plan is largely a story of local leadership, particularly from St. Mary Excel, a nonprofit citizens group that has emerged as the driving force behind the region’s resilience initiatives.
St. Mary Excel raised more than $135,000 to commission a 2018 study by the Urban Land Institute on ways the two municipalities could work together to diversify the St. Mary Parish economy, demonstrating the community’s commitment to investing in its own future. That study gave Morgan City and Berwick head starts toward becoming Louisiana Development Ready Communities.
“It has been a great collaboration,” St. Mary Excel Committee Chair Dr. Monica Mancuso said. “It’s nice to have strategies we can all work together to implement in each of our different roles.”
Following the ULI study, St. Mary Excel didn’t wait for others to act. In 2021, the organization approached the St. Mary Parish Council requesting that District 3 RESTORE Act funds — money specifically designated to address the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill’s impact through coastal activities — be used to implement the ULI’s key recommendation for a resilience “lab.”
The group’s persistence paid off.
The planning process is being led by The Water Institute based in Baton Rouge and was made possible through decisive action by the St. Mary Parish Council, which allocated federal RESTORE Act funding to support the initiative.
Beyond
climate debate
ARCH doesn’t get bogged down in debates about causes — it focuses on solutions. The initiative recognizes what every St. Mary Parish resident knows from experience: the weather patterns are becoming more intense, the storms more frequent and the water more unpredictable. Whether it’s the increasing frequency of “100-year” floods, the challenge of maintaining navigation channels against rapid sedimentation, or the reality that streets that once drained easily now flood regularly, the need for adaptation is clear.
The region faces what ARCH identifies as both “acute shocks”—sudden events like hurricanes and floods — and “chronic stressors”—long-term challenges like subsidence, aging infrastructure and economic cycles. These aren’t abstract concepts but daily realities for residents who have seen their flood insurance premiums skyrocket under FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0, watched foundations crack from subsidence, and experienced the boom-bust cycles of the oil industry.
“Morgan City is just waiting for that something that will rekindle that spark,” wrote a Morgan City High School student in 2025. “That is where ARCH and the ANERR come in, and with them, a host of new possibilities for St. Mary Parish.”
Building on
what works
ARCH represents the natural evolution of Morgan City’s problem-solving tradition. Just as Parker Conrad left his wealthy Jefferson Island family during the Depression to build shrimp boats, saying that shrimpers “work hard” and “if they have to work around the clock, they do,” today’s generation is rolling up its sleeves to address modern challenges.
The hub doesn’t seek to replace what built Morgan City — it amplifies it. Consider how ARCH leverages existing strengths:
The river as
laboratory
The Atchafalaya River, which carries 30% of the Mississippi River’s flow and serves as North America’s fifth-largest river by discharge, provides an unparalleled natural laboratory. The same waterway that brought shrimp boats and supported oil platforms now offers opportunities to test resilience solutions that can be exported worldwide.
Industrial innovation
The fabrication expertise that once built offshore platforms — companies like Conrad Industries, Swiftships, and Oceaneering that originated here—now can construct resilient infrastructure. St. Mary Parish’s recent emergence as a leader in modular construction, with a $250 million investment in Franklin for autonomous vessel production, shows the region’s continued capacity for industrial innovation.
Community
knowledge
ARCH recognizes that solutions come not just from scientists but from people who have lived with water for generations. Shrimpers who know every current, oil workers who understand storm patterns and families who have weathered countless hurricanes bring irreplaceable knowledge to the research table.
Three pillars for
a stronger future
ARCH’s strategic plan, developed through extensive community engagement led by St. Mary Excel and St. Mary Parish government, identifies interconnected focus areas:
•Infrastructure resilience: smarter, not just stronger
The infrastructure pillar addresses the reality that traditional approaches — higher levees, bigger pumps — aren’t enough anymore. ARCH’s projects include:
--Green storm-water infrastructure that works with nature rather than against it, using the landscape to absorb and channel water.
--Community training programs in partnership with LSU’s LaHouse, teaching residents practical techniques for flood-proofing homes and businesses.
--Energy grid resilience, exploring everything from storm-hardened power lines to floating solar panels to community lighthouse models that provide backup power during outages.
“Following Hurricane Francine, when extended power outages affected essential services, the need for a more resilient energy system became crystal clear,” notes the strategic plan.
--Economic resilience
Rather than abandoning the industries that built the region, ARCH seeks to strengthen and diversify them:
--Riverfront industry expansion: Local industry leaders have identified opportunities in modular construction for LNG facilities, autonomous vessel manufacturing and addressing the growing problem of orphaned oil and gas infrastructure — which not only poses environmental risks but consumes Coast Guard resources.
--Tourism with purpose: “Recreation trails included in the Morgan City Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan were cited in an Urban Land Institute Study completed in 2018 exploring ways of how to create a new economy between Berwick and Morgan City along the Atchafalaya.” These trails, along with expanded ecotourism using existing shrimp boat infrastructure, create new revenue streams while preserving cultural heritage. The Huey P. Long bridge that connects Morgan City to Berwick and to the rest of Louisiana will be opened to pedestrian and bike traffic and will become an Atchafalaya Gateway Trail.
--Youth Engagement. Programs like New Industries LLC’s Morgan City High School Welding Competition provide pathways for young people to enter well-paying local careers, addressing the “brain drain” that has plagued the region since the oil bust.
--Ecosystem resilience: Working with nature’s power St. Mary Parish sits at a unique crossroads — home to one of Louisiana’s only actively growing deltas while surrounded by areas experiencing rapid land loss. ARCH leverages this position through:
--Beneficial use of sediment: The Port of Morgan City already leads in reusing dredged material, having beneficially used approximately 16 million cubic yards in 2023 alone. ARCH will expand this work, turning the constant sedimentation challenge into coastal protection opportunities.
--Managing invasive species: Water hyacinth, which clogs waterways throughout the parish, could be converted to livestock feed or biofertilizer — turning a problem into a product.
--Restoring fisheries: Working with Louisiana Fisheries Forward and local fishers to understand why recreational fishing has declined in the lower Atchafalaya Basin and develop community-based solutions.
ANERR partnership:
National recognition
for local excellence
St. Mary Excel’s advocacy didn’t stop with ARCH. The organization was instrumental in securing Louisiana’s first National Estuarine Research Reserve designation for the Atchafalaya Basin. “’It’s national recognition for a place that’s been overlooked,’” said Catherine Holcomb of St. Mary Excel, “and is so important to the rest of the country.’”
In December 2020, the Morgan City Council passed a resolution supporting the establishment of the reserve in the Atchafalaya Estuarine Zone, underscoring “the community’s commitment to environmental conservation and sustainable development.” This persistence paid off when Gov. John Bel Edwards nominated the Atchafalaya Coastal Basin as the NERR site in June 2022.
The ANERR, managed by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, will complement ARCH by providing long-term research and monitoring capabilities, educational programs for K-12 and graduate students, and federal investment in the region. Studies of other NERRs show economic impacts ranging from $6 million to $57 million annually.
Implementation:
Learning from history
ARCH’s phased implementation approach reflects lessons learned from the region’s boom-bust history. Rather than betting everything on a single industry or mega-project, the plan calls for steady, sustainable growth:
Years 1-3: Foundation
--Establish ARCH as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a 6- to 8-person governing board
--Hire an executive director
--Begin operations in temporary space (possibly a donated vessel)
--Secure initial grant funding
Years 3-5: Growth
--Add support staff and interns
--Implement priority pilot projects
--Develop the Riverfront Industry Partners Program
--Plan a permanent facility
Years 5-10: Full Operations
--Construct riverfront facility with direct river access
--Scale successful pilot programs
--Export solutions to other coastal communities
--Establish national leadership in resilience
This measured approach ensures that ARCH can adapt to changing conditions and funding availability—a crucial lesson from a region that has weathered both natural and economic storms.
Riverfront Industry
Partners Program: Business
leadership for resilience
Industry leaders who have weathered the region’s ups and downs understand that St. Mary Parish’s future depends on addressing fundamental challenges: workforce development, housing quality, and economic diversification. The Riverfront Industry Partners Program provides specific opportunities for businesses to invest in solutions.
Bill New of New Industries, whose welding competition showcases skilled craftsmanship among high school students, exemplifies this commitment. “These competitions provide workforce employment information including opportunities for welding internships, part-time employment while still in school, and post-high school full-time employment,” creating pathways that keep talent local.
From festival to future:
Cultural continuity
The Shrimp & Petroleum Festival, approaching its 90th anniversary, serves as more than celebration — it’s a platform for community engagement about resilience. The festival’s evolution mirrors the community’s adaptability: what began as a one-day blessing of shrimp boats in 1937 became a celebration of dual industries in 1967 and now encompasses the region’s emergence as a leader of resilience.
The ceremonial “kiss” between the king and queen’s vessels during the Blessing of the Fleet — a bow-to-bow champagne toast on the Atchafalaya—symbolizes unity not just between industries but between past and future, tradition and innovation, working with nature rather than against it.
Practical solutions
for real people
ARCH’s projects aren’t academic exercises — they address immediate needs:
--For homeowners: Parametric insurance pilots that could provide automatic payouts when specific storm conditions occur, avoiding lengthy claims processes/Training programs teaching practical flood-proofing techniques/Research into subsidence mitigation to protect foundations.
--For businesses: Strategies to maintain operations during power outages/ Beneficial use of dredged material to protect industrial facilities/Workforce development programs ensuring skilled labor availability.
--For young people: Internship opportunities with ARCH and partner organizations, field learning experiences connecting classroom education to local challenges and career pathways in resilience fields that didn’t exist a generation ago.
The economics
of resilience
Unlike the extractive economy of oil or the harvest economy of shrimping, resilience creates value by protecting existing assets and reducing future losses. Every dollar spent on resilience typically saves $4-6 in disaster recovery costs. For St. Mary Parish, where property losses from tropical storms totaled $177.7 million from 1960-2003 alone, the economic case is clear.
Moreover, ARCH creates stable, long-term employment in research,
monitoring, implementation, and education—jobs that can’t be outsourced and don’t depend on commodity prices. The strategic plan identifies potential funding from diverse sources: federal disaster grants, state programs, foundation support, and industry partnerships, avoiding dependence on any single source.
Global relevance,
local roots
While ARCH focuses on St. Mary Parish, its work has global implications. The Atchafalaya River, as one of the world’s most sediment-rich waterways feeding one of the few growing deltas, provides an ideal testing ground for solutions needed worldwide. Communities from the Netherlands to Bangladesh face similar challenges of living with water, and solutions proven in Morgan City can be exported globally.
The Mr. Charlie Offshore Oil Rig Museum, now a National Historic Landmark, already draws international visitors interested in offshore technology history. ARCH adds another dimension to this story, showing how the innovation that created the offshore industry now addresses 21st century challenges.
Living monument
to adaptation
As the strategic plan notes, St. Mary Parish is “a region created and defined by water.” With 660 miles of navigable waterways, proximity to both river and gulf, and location in three major watersheds, water isn’t just part of the landscape, it’s the defining feature of life here. ARCH recognizes this reality and builds on it. Rather than fighting water, the hub seeks to understand it, work with it, and even profit from it. The same sediment that clogs navigation channels can build protective barriers. The same storms that threaten infrastructure can generate data for better preparation. The same water that floods streets can be channeled into green infrastructure that beautifies neighborhoods.
The next storm,
the next opportunity
Hurricane season comes every year to St. Mary Parish. The only questions are how many storms, how strong, and where they’ll hit. ARCH doesn’t promise to stop hurricanes or prevent all flooding. Instead, it offers something more valuable: the knowledge, tools, and community cohesion to bounce back stronger.
This is the same spirit that has carried the region through nine decades of transformation—from timber to shrimp, from shrimp to oil, from oil to whatever comes next. Each transition brought challenges, but also opportunities for those willing to adapt.
Conclusion: writing
the next chapter
The 90th Shrimp & Petroleum Festival celebrates not just two industries but a way of life — one that values hard work, innovation, and community solidarity in the face of nature’s challenges. ARCH represents the next evolution of these values, applying the same determination that built shrimp boats during the Depression and drilled beyond sight of land to the challenge of living sustainably with water.
“I am excited and proud to learn that LED (Louisiana Economic Development) has recognized Morgan City, Berwick and St. Mary Excel for their efforts to improve economic development for our communities and our parish,” said Berwick Mayor Duval Arthur, acknowledging the collaborative spirit that makes ARCH possible.
The bronze diver statue at the International Petroleum Museum stands as monument to past courage—men and women who descended into dangerous depths to build an industry. Today’s challenge requires a different kind of courage: the willingness to change, to learn, to work with natural forces rather than against them.
St. Mary Excel’s leadership in advancing ARCH from concept to reality demonstrates that this courage exists in abundance. From raising funds for the initial ULI study to advocating for RESTORE Act funding to championing the ANERR designation, local citizens have taken ownership of their future.
As Parish President Sam Jones writes, “Through the implementation of this plan, we will work to increase the resilience of infrastructure, the economy, and ecosystems in St. Mary Parish by bringing targeted, applied research projects to the area, creating higher education partnerships, and developing meaningful entrepreneurial opportunities that center the unique assets of our coastal communities.”
The Atchafalaya River continues its ancient work — carrying sediment from half a continent, building land even as other places lose it, supporting life in countless forms. The shrimp still run in the Gulf waters, the platforms still extract energy from beneath the seafloor, and the festivals still celebrate both. But now, something new is taking shape along the riverfront: a hub where the wisdom of fishermen meets the precision of scientists, where the skills of fabricators support resilience research, where young people can build careers protecting the only home they’ve ever known.
This is more than economic development or environmental protection. It’s about a community’s determination to write its own future rather than having it written by storms, markets, or distant decision-makers. The same spirit that transformed a Depression-era lumber town into the birthplace of the offshore oil industry now tackles the challenge of creating a sustainable, resilient future.
The journey from the first jumbo shrimp in 1937 to the Atchafalaya River Coastal Hub in 2025 spans nearly a century of adaptation, innovation, and perseverance. Each generation has faced its storms — literal and metaphorical—and found ways not just to survive but to thrive. Now, as the 90th Shrimp & Petroleum Festival approaches, St. Mary Parish stands ready to show the world that resilience isn’t just about weathering storms — it’s about transforming challenges into opportunities, problems into solutions, and vulnerable communities into models of adaptation.
The next hurricane will come. The river will continue to rise and fall. The sediment will keep flowing. But with ARCH, St. Mary Parish will be ready — not just to weather the storm, but to learn from it, adapt to it, and ultimately, to thrive because of it. This is the legacy of 90 years along the Atchafalaya River: a community that bends but doesn’t break, that adapts but doesn’t abandon its roots, that faces the future with the same courage that has carried it through the past.
The Atchafalaya River Coastal Hub is currently in development, with implementation beginning in 2025. St. Mary Excel continues to lead community engagement efforts alongside St. Mary Parish Government. For more information about ARCH see stmaryexcel.com to read the entire plan. The 90th Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival will take place Aug. 28-Sept. in downtown Morgan City.