The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is now the recipient of the two largest grants ever awarded by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council).
This distinction comes following the announcement of the receipt of a $130 million grant to partially fund the River Reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp project and the recently awarded $163 million grant for the Houma Navigation Canal (HNC) Lock Complex project.
The RESTORE Council administers grants with funds from the Clean Water Act civil and administrative penalties resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, allocated through the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (RESTORE Act).
The RESTORE Council originally prioritized the River Reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp project for funding in February 2020. The $130 million grant awarded yesterday will partially fund the revitalization of 45,000 acres of the Maurepas Swamp, the state’s second-largest coastal swamp forest, by channeling freshwater, sediment, and nutrients from the Mississippi River into the swamp.
Construction of the project will also help pay for the nearby West Shore Lake Pontchartrain project (WSLP) through a first-of-its-kind partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The Maurepas project has been approved by USACE as mitigation for impacts of the WSLP project, allowing the state to construct one project for dual purposes, which saves time and money while improving the entire area through an integrated effort.
The HNC Lock Complex is a large-scale hydrologic restoration project that will help limit saltwater intrusion and distribute freshwater within the Terrebonne Basin, allowing for the maintenance of thousands of acres of wetlands, which serve as critical wildlife habitat and nurseries for fisheries.
Once constructed, the HNC Lock Complex will span 110 feet across by 800 feet long and stand 23 ½ feet high on the south end, nearest to the Gulf of Mexico, with sector gates on either side, directly adjacent to the existing 250-foot-wide Bubba Dove barge floodgate.
