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2017 Coastal Master Plan Brochure

The Coastal Master Plan sets forth an ambitious path to create a more sustainable coastal Louisiana landscape. The 2017 Coastal Master Plan will provide important information to Louisiana’s coastal citizens, allowing them to protect their families, manage businesses, and plan for the future. The 2017 Coastal Master Plan moves us towards our protection and restoration goals of reducing coastal flood risk, promoting sustainable ecosystems, providing habitats for a variety of commercial and recreational activities coast wide, strengthening communities, and supporting regionally and nationally important business and industry.

To download a brochure about the 2017 Coastal Master Plan process, please click here.

2017 Coastal Master Plan Video Presentation

The planning team has developed a video presentation to aid in your understanding of the 2017 Coastal Master Plan. This video provides an overview of the master plan – why we need an integrated protection and restoration plan, how it is being developed, who is involved, and recent advancements and improvements.

Click here to view the video presentation, which is recorded in English and Vietnamese.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. We created Coastal Master Plans in 2007 and 2012. Why do we need another one? Louisiana law requires that the Coastal Master Plan be updated every five years so the state can respond to changes on the ground as well as innovations in science, engineering, and policy. The 2017 Coastal Master Plan is the third installment in what will be a series of Coastal Master Plans, each one improving on work done before and helping to establish clear priorities for the future. The 2017 Coastal Master Plan will carry previous planning efforts forward by improving the science and analysis, incorporating new ideas and information, expanding stakeholder engagement, and focusing more on communities and comprehensive flood risk resilience.
  2. What progress has been made since the 2007 and 2012 Coastal Master Plans were published? Since CPRA was created and the first 2007 Coastal Master Plan was released, we’ve secured more than $18 billion for protection and restoration projects in 20 parishes. This funding has made swift on-the-ground impacts and improved 256 miles of levees, constructed 45 miles of barrier islands and berms, used more than 95 million cubic yards of dredged sediment, and benefited more than 26,000 acres of land. In keeping with the mandate of Act 8 that established CPRA, the 2007 Coastal Master Plan set forth a new comprehensive approach that integrated planning for the protection of our communities with planning for our coastal environment in order to address the needs of the whole coastal system. This plan laid forth the bold strategies that were needed to respond to our ongoing coastal crisis and imagine a new approach to create a bright future for coastal Louisiana. The 2012 Coastal Master Plan then made a tremendous leap forward in developing the computer models and analytic tools that enabled us to better understand our changing landscape and to evaluate protection and restoration projects in a systems context. As a result, for the first time, the state made detailed recommendations for specific projects and programs that have the best chance of reducing communities’ flood risk and sustaining our coast. The 2012 Coastal Master Plan also took a new, more holistic flood risk reduction strategy.
  3. How will the 2017 Coastal Master Plan differ from the 2012 Coastal Master Plan? The 2017 Coastal Master Plan will stay true to the overall objectives and approach of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan, but will include several advancements:
    • Emphasizing communities: We know coastal restoration and protection goals ultimately intend to support the people who live and work in coastal Louisiana, and the 2017 Coastal Master Plan will place a greater focus on these communities. CPRA appreciates the importance of understanding the cost of continued land loss as well as potential effects of protection and restoration project actions on local communities and businesses, as well as our regional and national economy. This information will be quantified and included in our analysis and decision making process.
    • Focus on flood risk reduction and resilience: We need to use all of the tools available to reduce communities’ flood risk and, as such, we are exploring different types of nonstructural options and refining policies to help communities become more resilient. The 2017 Coastal Master Plan will present a considerably more detailed path forward for nonstructural project recommendations, funding sources, grant procedures, and policy recommendations. In addition, we are also expanding outreach through the creation of a new, interactive web-based viewer to help residents better understand their flood risk now and in the future. To access the viewer, visit the “Flood Risk and Resilience Viewer” at cims.coastal.la.gov/floodrisk.
    • Incorporating new ideas and information: The 2017 Coastal Master Plan considers an array of new project ideas not modeled in 2012; these new project ideas were submitted from across the coast by stakeholders and members of the public. Lastly, a wider range of ecosystem outcomes is included such as additional fisheries and wildlife species.
    • Improving the science: The 2012 Coastal Master Plan was founded on state-of-the-art science and analysis, and the 2017 effort builds upon this further. The modeling process provides a deeper understanding of our coastal environment today, as well as the changes we can expect over the next 50 years. Recent updates include advancing modeling tools, incorporating a larger geographic area, and increasing spatial detail of land loss and flood risk.
    • Expanding partnerships and collaboration: Because a successful plan is built on local knowledge, input from a diverse range of coastal stakeholders and extensive dialogue with the public, the many partnerships developed for the 2012 Coastal Master Plan will continue for the 2017 Coastal Master Plan. These partnerships include a coastal stakeholder advisory group (Framework Development Team) as well as focus groups that represent our communities, landowners, recreational interests (wildlife and fisheries), and commercial activities (fisheries, navigation, and energy and industry). We are also coordinating more closely with allied groups such as floodplain managers, hazard mitigation specialists, other state agencies, and NGOs. Furthermore, we have continued reaching out to the public in new ways to better share information related to our changing landscape, communities’ flood risk, and the solutions to create a more resilient and sustainable coast.
  4. If a project was included in the 2012 Coastal Master Plan, will it be in the 2017 Coastal Master Plan? Not necessarily. Projects included in the 2012 Coastal Master Plan that have not moved to implementation will be analyzed and considered, just like new project concepts that were submitted through CPRA’s New Project Development Program. All of these projects will undergo the same rigorous technical analysis. The 2017 Coastal Master Plan, much like the 2012 Coastal Master Plan, will be resource constrained and will include a select number of projects that are based on sound science and stakeholder feedback.
  5. What is the Annual Plan, and how does it relate to the Coastal Master Plan? The Annual Plan for Coastal Protection and Restoration describes projects and actions that will be undertaken by the state and its partners each fiscal year. The Annual Plan also describes both the progress we have made and the challenges we have encountered in seeking to implement the guidance offered in the previous Coastal Master Plan. Finally, the Annual Plan forecasts project priorities and budgets up to three years into the future.
  6. Who decides what is in the 2017 Coastal Master Plan? Who approves it? The 2017 Coastal Master Plan is being developed by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). Once complete, it will go first to the CPRA Board for approval before being submitted to the Louisiana State Legislature for approval in the spring of 2017.
  7. What is your timeline for developing the 2017 Coastal Master Plan? How does it affect ongoing implementation? Although not due to the Louisiana Legislature until April 2017, development of the 2017 Coastal Master Plan is underway with the draft plan scheduled to be delivered in January 2017. Once the draft plan is published, formal public meetings will take place in February 2017, followed by a formal public comment period ending in March 2017. In addition to these meetings, CPRA will also hold Annual Plan meetings in January 2016 and regional community meetings in fall 2016. CPRA is committed to our coast and will continue to make progress over the coming years as we work towards delivery of the final 2017 Coastal Master Plan. Building and maintaining land to protect our working coast remains our core mission.
  8. How can I get involved and learn more? Please visit the “Get Involved” section of our website, or contact us at masterplan@la.gov.