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Levee district approves CPA landbridge IGA for large coastal restoration work, contingent on legal review
Summary
Delta Coast Consultants outlined a basinwide landbridge and marsh-creation program funded by redirected diversion money; the board approved staff to proceed with the intergovernmental agreement with the Coastal Protection Authority pending legal-counsel review and delegated signature authority to staff.
The Levy District Board heard a detailed presentation on a proposed, basinwide landbridge and marsh-creation program funded through the Coastal Protection Authority on the motion to accept an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) for initial work.
Mitch of Delta Coast Consultants told the board that with the diversion project not moving forward, state leaders have redirected substantial funding toward landbridge-type marsh-creation projects across the basin. He said the state intends to put much of that work in the hands of local levee districts because of their demonstrated delivery capacity. Mitch described a proposed project zone that would span multiple parishes and protect “several hundred thousand acres” of interior marsh between barrier systems, and said the work could include ridge construction, rock placement, marsh creation and segmented breakwaters depending on site conditions and design.
Mitch told the board the initial phase would prioritize data gathering—high-resolution imagery, surveys and geotechnical investigations—to translate master-plan concepts into buildable projects. He said the administration’s planning figure for the program is about $800 million, but that number “is not set in stone” and will be refined as project scopes are developed.
Board staff and counsel cautioned that the draft IGA provided by the Coastal Protection Authority did not list specific projects or dollar amounts and is intended primarily to fund the early data-gathering and program-management phase. Staff recommended the board approve the IGA in substantially the same form but contingent on legal counsel review and approval and that the executive director and designated staff be authorized to sign and execute the agreements once counsel signs off.
On that recommendation, moved by Senator Moscott, the board approved the conditional IGA authorization. The board’s approval was explicitly tied to legal-counsel review; staff said future phases and construction agreements will be subject to separate approvals and funding details.
What happens next: staff will continue the data-collection phase described by Delta Coast, return to the board with clarified scopes and costs for each project area, and present any required amendments or follow-on agreements for approval after legal review.
Authorities referenced in the meeting included the intergovernmental agreement offered by the Coastal Protection Authority for Veritaria and Terabone landbridge projects; the IGA text and specific contract terms were not included in the meeting materials and dollar allocations were “not specified.”
