House OKs Morganza; WRDA heads to Senate next

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a long-awaited water resources bill Thursday containing the go-ahead for projects across the nation by a 394-25 vote.

The bill, better known as the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), contains over $2 billion in projects for the state of Louisiana, tops among them the $880 million Morganza to the Gulf hurricane protection project.

A 72-mile system of levees and locks, Morganza will be built along coastal Terrebonne and parts of Lafourche parishes to protect coastal residents up to a Category 3 hurricane storm surge.

Lawmakers nationwide have been clamoring for a WRDA bill for some time.

Typically, a water resources bill is approved every two years. But the country has been in a dry spell, figuratively speaking, since the last WRDA was approved in 2000. A number of factors caused the act to be held, political infighting among them.

Only hours before the bill’s passage Thursday, the White House announced it was softening its opposition to the Morganza project.

In a leaked draft of a policy document, the Bush Administration specifically sought the deletion of the Morganza project from WRDA. President Bush softened his stance, but maintaining that he had concerns about the project’s compatibility with other hurricane restoration work and the current scientific findings.

“I am very pleased that the White House has softened their stance on Morganza to the Gulf, which will provide essential hurricane protections to those in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes,” said Congressman Bobby Jindal, prior to last week’s vote. “The area that will be protected by Morganza is home to tens of thousands of residents, and is a critically important area for our nation’s energy and fishing industries.”

The House vote was a relief to locals who have long fought for the Morganza project.

“Passage of this bill and its important components n like Morganza n sends a clear signal to the entire Congress and the American people that these projects are viewed as important and necessary to the security and economic well being of the nation,” said Jerome Zeringue, executive director of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District. “It’s important now to get this legislation passed by the Senate so we can begin to get moving.”

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph also applauded the House vote.

“This action is good for Lafourche in that the system will serve to protect the western portion of Lafourche Parish,” she said. “With the completion of the Houma Navigation Canal Lock, we are less vulnerable to storm surge from the west. And with the completion of the system with the most southerly alignment, the necessity for heightening the levee system is reduced.”

Wording in the bill also calls for the federal government to cover the future cost of operating and maintaining the locks and floodgates that will be built as part of the Morganza system.

In all, WRDA authorizes more than $886 million n of which the Federal government will pay over $576 million n for the 72-mile system of levees, locks and floodgates.

“Morganza will offer hurricane protection to about 120,000 people in south Louisiana who currently have no defense against storms and are like sitting ducks in the path of the next big hurricane,” said U.S. Representative Charlie Melancon. “The people of Terrebonne and Lafourche need this protection desperately. They have been taxing themselves for years to try and build parts of the system on their own. It’s long past time the federal government stepped up to the plate on Morganza.”

The legislation also includes language that would begin the steps necessary for the closure of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, the navigation channel that contributed to the flooding of St. Bernard Parish during Hurricane Katrina.

An additional $1 billion was included in the legislation fore the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Plan. Monies in this section call for the implementation of several small shoreline restoration projects along the Louisiana coast, among them freshwater restoration to Bayou Lafourche.

The bill now goes to a vote in the U.S. Senate where officials there have committed to a vote on the legislation in the coming weeks.

“We realize that [the House vote] is not yet a fait au complet because it still must pass the Senate, but with the White House removing its earlier objection, the chances of its passage are greater. This is very good news for Lafourche.”