Resident’s Action Results in Project’s Funding
Public Participation Vital to CWPPRA Process

Lee Richardson admits that he knew only two things when he walked into the New Orleans Corps of Engineers’ offices in January 2004. “I knew we had a problem,” he says, “and I knew we needed help.”

Richardson owns property in Lake Catherine, a community located on the land bridge separating Lake Borgne from Lake Pontchartrain. He and fellow members of the Lake Catherine Civic Association were alarmed at the rapid erosion of the narrow land bridge and realized that if no action were taken, their community would soon wash away. The disappearance of the land bridge, a fragile deterrent to storm surges driven from the gulf, would also increase the vulnerability of other communities on Lake Pontchartrain.

Without public insistence on coastal protection and restoration, traditional ways of life on Louisiana’s bayous will vanish with the wetlands.
Sharon Coogle, Koupal Communications

Richardson was lucky to encounter Chris Monnerjahn at the Corps of Engineers. Experienced in the year-long process of seeking funding for projects through the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA), Monnerjahn offered to assist Richardson in nominating a project to protect the outermost shoreline of the land bridge. In less than a week, the men took the first step in the CWPPRA project selection process (see box, page 4) by presenting their proposal at a regional planning team meeting.

“That year, our project made the first cut, but not the second,” Richardson says. But he did not accept the defeat as final. At CWPPRA meetings Richardson had met representatives from the City of New Orleans. He and the Corps collaborated with them to revise and resubmit the project.

The 2005 proposal protected erosion hot spots along the land bridge. The project generated widespread citizen involvement and political support that crossed parish lines. In a year when four projects were funded, Richardson’s proposal was ranked number five.

Richardson heeded the lessons he had learned about the CWPPRA process. “The most critical lesson was not to give up,” Richardson says. “All along the way I found intelligent, experienced and cooperative people willing to help. With the assistance of the Corps of Engineers, we reshaped how we addressed our problem so that the project, reinforcing a single stretch of shoreline and rebuilding the wetlands beyond it, matched CWPPRA’s focus on coastal restoration.” In 2006 the project, Alligator Bend Shoreline and Marsh Restoration, was the CWPPRA committee’s first choice for funding.

Projects Improve with Public Participation

“Richardson exemplifies how important an individual citizen can be in the CWPPRA project selection process,” says Julie LeBlanc, CWPPRA Senior Project Manager at the Corps of Engineers. “CWPPRA relies on residents to bring localized knowledge of terrain and hydrology and to identify and support projects their communities need.”

LeBlanc points out that working with a sponsor — a federal, state or local government agency or an independent environmental or civic organization — can boost the chances for an individual’s success in the project selection process. “Sponsors can help develop materials and fact sheets to present a project effectively and provide support through the lengthy selection process.” she says.

“Even if a project fails to be funded,” says John Lopez of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, “there is value in participating in the process. Project submissions bring attention to problems of local concern, and the selection process is an opportunity to educate the public on coastal issues. There is an enormous amount of information shared at CWPPRA meetings.”

The community of Lake Catherine lies on the East Orleans Landbridge. Although diminished by years of subsidence and erosion, this narrow strip of land still shields Lake Pontchartrain from the full destructive power of storm surges pushing through Lake Borgne from the Gulf of Mexico
USGS