New Legislation Paves Way for Bayou Restoration Grant

U.S. Senator David Vitter has announced that Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana will be receiving a grant of $23.7 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), providing for restoration of Oyster Bayou Marsh in Cameron Parish.

“Coastal restoration and hurricane protection aren’t just important issues. They’re matters of life or death – of survival for whole communities and ways of life,” Vitter said.

“This funding for marsh restoration in Cameron Parish will be a huge boost to our overall goals of restoring our coast.”

This funding is part of the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA). Funds from this grant will fund phase two of the Oyster Bayou Marsh Restoration project.

The project will create new and support existing saline marsh habitats in Cameron Parish, an area devastated by years of land-loss due to inland saltwater intrusion and hurricanes, particularly Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Hurricane Ike in 2008.

For this area, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates a -1.8% land loss per year between 1984 and 2011.

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