Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Coastal Restoration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Terrebonne advisory committee hears status updates on multiple coastal restoration projects and grant bids
Summary
The Coastal Zone Management and Restoration Advisory Committee received project updates March 11 on Island Road (TE117), Bay Roxy (TE156) and Terrebonne Agency/Bird Island (TE165), discussed land-rights and funding constraints, and reviewed parish and partner grant efforts including a $775,000 CPRA parish matching grant request.
Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government’s Coastal Zone Management and Restoration Advisory Committee on March 11 received progress reports on several coastal-restoration projects, updates on upcoming funding decisions and ongoing partnership talks with Ducks Unlimited, ConocoPhillips and federal agencies.
The committee was briefed on TE117, the Island Road Marsh Creation Nourishment Project, which is tied to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Mr. Black, a parish staff member, said NOAA and the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) will meet March 13 and that “they can’t go to bid because they don’t have land rights,” meaning only engineering work could move forward until land rights are resolved.
Mr. Black also said TE156, the Bay Roxy Marsh Creation Ridge Restoration, has been given approval for construction “but it was contingent on the funding,” and that the technical committee is expected to know more at its April 10 meeting. On TE165, the Terrebonne Agency island restoration often called Bird Island, Mr. Black reported contractor Wicks Marine is demobilizing for nesting season and is expected to resume work after nesting, with the full project expected to finish by mid-December.
Committee members and staff emphasized unresolved site conditions and permitting constraints that could affect scheduling. “Because of soil conditions, water depths, there ain’t no guarantees out there,” Mr. Black said when discussing a possible land-bridge alignment between Lafourche Parish and Isle de Jean Charles.
The parish is pursuing additional funding and partnerships. Mr. Black said parish staff submitted a CPRA FY25 parish matching-grant request with Ducks Unlimited to finish terracing work that is already engineered and permitted. The parish is proposing a $100,000 match and requesting $775,000 in grant funds; a decision on that application was expected later in March. Mr. Black said he had not yet received negative feedback on the application.
He also described outreach and planning activities: a coastal workforce development session at Fletcher scheduled for 9 a.m. March 21, a second round of community conversations for the 2029 coastal master plan planned for summer 2025, and a meeting March 14 with Ducks Unlimited and ConocoPhillips to discuss the Caring Cove Bayou diversion proposal (which Mr. Black said he submitted for consideration in the Atchafalaya Basin Master Plan). Representatives of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) were expected to visit the following month.
Why it matters: many projects remain contingent on land rights, partner funding and grant awards; those constraints determine whether designs proceed to construction and when work can be scheduled. Committee members were encouraged to attend community and technical meetings where funding and project lists will be finalized.
The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for April 1, 2025, at 5 p.m. in the same meeting room.
