CPRA Releases Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Plan

The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has released a draft version of the agency’s annual spending plan for Fiscal Year 2021, which runs from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.

The Integrated Ecosystem Restoration & Hurricane Protection in Coastal Louisiana: Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Plan anticipates investing $958 million in Louisiana’s coast. This is the largest spending plan in the history of the State’s coastal program, including a record $718 million allocated toward construction.

“This investment represents 75% of the overall anticipated expenditures of $958 million in the coming fiscal year,” said CPRA Board Chairman Chip Kline, “and the percentage of on-the-ground construction is projected to increase to 81% in FY 2022 and to 89% in FY 2023.”

Kline also said that the increasing number of projects going to construction is due to the culmination of planning, engineering, and design that must be completed before construction funding can be obtained.

Key takeaways from the Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Plan include:

• 91.6% of total expenditures will go toward project implementation and maintenance;
• 106 projects are listed as active: 60 in construction, 38 in engineering and design, and eight in planning;
• 14 active projects are in Southwest Louisiana, 29 in South Central Louisiana, and 63 in Southeast Louisiana;
• 16 dredging projects are slated for construction, including 76.8 million cubic yards to create or nourish more than 13,000 acres.