Clock ticking for WRDA approval

The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bill, passed by both chambers of the U.S. Congress, was sent to President Bush on Oct. 22.

The bill contains funding for Morganza-to-the-Gulf, the massive hurricane-protection project, which would provide around $1 billion to pay for flood-control structures in south Louisiana, including Terrebonne Parish.

The President has until Saturday, Nov. 3, to either sign the bill into law or veto it, but Bush stated at a televised news conference on Oct. 26 he intends to veto WRDA. He described the bill as “fiscally irresponsible.”

At the news conference, Bush asserted that both chambers passed WRDA bills containing between $14 billion and $15 billion in spending.

However, the final WRDA bill sent to his desk contains $23 billion in spending, Bush said.

At the Oct. 22 meeting of the Terrebonne Parish Council’s Budget and Finance Committee, Dan Walker, president of the Morganza Action Coalition, said he is hoping for the best.

MAC was formed to lobby Congress to pass Morganza to the Gulf.

The coalition began receiving $30,000 a year in 2006 for three years from Terrebonne Parish to help pay for the services of the lobbying firm the Alpine Group.

“It’s a vital exercise for the welfare of the parish,” Walker told the committee.

Councilman Harold Lapeyre called the payments “money well spent.”

Walker told the committee funding for Morganza-to-the-Gulf was originally $660 million, and is currently at $880 million.

However, when money for the Morganza project finally comes through, he said, the figure may well top $1 billion.

Though most of the funding for Morganza is federal, Terrebonne parish has $107 million to contribute to the project from a 4-cent sales tax, according to Terrebonne Levee & Conservation District Executive Director Jerome Zeringue.