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Commissioners urge state to speed CEAs as Louisiana Watershed Initiative coordination continues
Summary
Commissioners and Water Institute representatives told the commission that limited receipt of Cooperative Endeavor Agreements (CEAs) from the state is delaying multi-parish projects; ARBC staff and partners said they will press the Office of Community Development and coordinate with the Louisiana Watershed Initiative to keep projects moving.
Commissioners at the June 10 Amite River Basin Commission meeting pressed for faster state action on Cooperative Endeavor Agreements (CEAs) needed to start major watershed projects and described stalled work on the Manchac project and related pump-station work.
Garvin Pittman of the Water Institute of the Gulf gave a brief program update: the Water Institute submitted an invoice to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) with minor comments outstanding, received reimbursement from the watershed regional capacity-building grant via the Office of Community Development (OCD), and is preparing the next quarterly report and payment request. Pittman said the institute is discussing “quick wins” from the master plan that the institute could support within its budget.
Commissioner Quetmall (phonetic spelling in transcript) and other commissioners said only one parish had yet received its CEA from the state, creating duplication of work and repeated comments from state reviewers that force applicants to resubmit material. Commissioners said the delay is “stalling” the Manchac project and is holding up engineering selection and pump-station work. Commissioner Rayford said he has a scope of work ready and is prepared to proceed once the parish-level CEA is in place.
Commissioners asked staff to coordinate with Paul Sawyer to press state partners and to ensure ARBC is represented on upcoming Louisiana Watershed Initiative (LWI) meetings and model-training sessions. Sawyer said he would work with staff and LWI coordinators to schedule and coordinate the needed meetings and that moving CEAs forward — and plugging ARBC issues into LWI discussions — is a top priority.
No new CEAs or deadlines were announced at the meeting; commissioners urged continued follow-up with state officials to avoid additional delays on multi-year projects.
