The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) last week released its 2020 Year in Review , outlining the agency’s accomplishments in coastal protection and restoration.
The past year saw the advancement of 112 coastal projects, including 49 projects in construction, surpassing last year’s record of 40 projects in active construction.
“In a year of unprecedented challenges, our team at CPRA pressed forward with unrelenting focus in order to advance projects and deliver results to the citizens of coastal Louisiana,” said CPRA Chairman Chip Kline and Executive Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Activities.
“We had a record-breaking number of projects in active construction, and we embarked on a number of new policy initiatives that will transform the way our state approaches the sustainability of our coast.
“This year, like perhaps no other year since 2005, showcased the continued and dire need for the work that we do. It also fulfilled the promise of a protection and restoration program able to advance projects adequate to the scale of the problem.”
“Despite COVID, working remotely, and a record seven tropical storms and hurricanes affecting Louisiana, CPRA never missed a beat,” added CPRA Executive Director Bren Haase .
“Thanks to our agency’s hard-working team, we were able to complete construction on 12 projects with a total value of more than $185.4 million, and we moved into the construction phase on 15 more projects totaling more than $405.6 million.”
Haase said that other projects continuing this calendar year, along with projects now in engineering and design heading to construction, will improve 110 miles of levees and restore their barrier islands, marshes, swamps, and ridges for the citizens of the state and the fish and wildlife that call their coast home.