COAST 2050 PROJECT

Introduction...

The rate of coastal land loss in Louisiana has reached catastrophic proportions in recent years and the aftermath from Hurricane Katrina has only added to the devastation. Some two million Southern Louisiana residents have been subjected to increased flooding and damage from hurricanes, storms and even high tides along with the billions of dollars in property loss. In 1998, the State of Louisiana and its federal partners were charged with restoring and protecting Louisiana’s valued coastal wetlands, therefore a coastal restoration plan was initiated entitled Coast 2050: Toward a Sustainable Coastal Louisiana. That document presented strategies jointly developed by federal, state, and local interests to address Louisiana’s massive loss of coastal land. For the first time, solutions were proposed to address fundamental ecosystem needs in order to prevent further coastal area loss.

What Would It Do...

Recognized today as the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, some experts now believe that the Hurricane Katrina disaster could ultimately top $125 billion. In its original 1998 draft Coast 2050 was to concentrate on building back the barrier islands that had over years helped to protect the Louisiana coastline from hurricane storm surge as well as prevent coastal inward movement which in 1998 was predicted to be as much as 30 miles inland by 2050. Under the Bush Administration, nearly $2 billion in incremental funding has been obligated to Louisiana since 2000 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to use in civil support projects. While some of the money has been spent to control flooding, millions of dollars have reportedly been diverted to unrelated projects. How effective would the Project have been in reestablishing the barrier islands and promoting much needed natural growth in the wetland region? America may never know, but it clearly appears that the $14 billion needed to fund the project would be money well spent - and it still may not be too late. The cost today would likely top the original projection of 1998, but it is safe to speculate that based on the tragic events of Katrina and federal relief funds that have poured into Louisiana and the New Orleans regions over the past several weeks, as should be, that this Project would probably have been an excellent investment in 1998 when first introduced to Congress.

Coast 2050: Toward a Sustainable Coastal Louisiana http://lacoast.gov/Programs/2050/MainReport/report1.pdf

Coast 2050 Feasibility Study http://coast2050.gov/

-- MikeLawrence - 01 Dec 2005