West Grand Terre Beach Nourishment Gets Support

The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has been awarded a $7.3 million grant from the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council for engineering and design of the West Grand Terre Beach Nourishment and Stabilization Project.

This project is the first of seven projects the RESTORE Council has selected for funding under its Initial Funded Priorities List that will directly benefit Louisiana.

The West Grand Terre Beach Nourishment and Stabilization Project is in the state’s Coastal Master Plan and is designed to address degradation within Louisiana’s Barataria/Plaquemines barrier island system.

The goal of this work is to restore and enhance dune and back-barrier marsh habitat benefitting interior wetlands and Gulf estuarine dependent marine species.

This scheme will also protect, restore and maintain ecologically important breeding and nesting habitat of colonial nesting water birds including Louisiana’s state bird, the brown pelican, as well as migratory shorebirds including the endangered piping plover.

Additionally, this project will promote community resilience and reduce risk to infrastructure by providing storm surge and wave attenuation.

West Grand Terre is located immediately northeast of Grand Isle at the mouth of the Barataria Basin.

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