Louisiana poised for big wins in water resources

After last month’s devastating flooding throughout South Louisiana, it is clear that America’s water infrastructure is in desperate need of an overhaul and upgrade.

We cannot continue rebuilding neighborhoods and cities time and again after disasters; we have to become more proactive in protecting life and property, more diligent in our oversight of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to ensure projects are delivered on time, as well as creating the good paying jobs that help grow our economy.

Fortunately, there are vehicles awaiting action in the United States Senate that could do just that. That’s why this week I called upon my colleagues to pass our commonsense legislation, the Water Resources and Development Act of 2016 (WRDA).

WRDA 2016 builds upon the necessary, commonsense reforms I was able to pass in the 2014 WRDA bill. This is one of the reasons why WRDA has come out of both the relevant Senate and House Committees with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Some of the bill highlights that I secured in the bill that will particularly benefit Louisiana are –

-Authorization of the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane Protection Project and the Southwest Coastal Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project, which will provide necessary protection for residents outside the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System along the Interstate 10 corridor and throughout communities in Southwest Louisiana.

-Authorization for reconstructing the aging Calcasieu Lock, ensuring safe, reliable transportation along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, one of our nation’s most vital shipping lanes.

-Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund reforms that extend vital programs for those ports that move much of our nation’s energy commodities, modernize cost-shares to maintain our nation’s competitive advantage in the global economy, and also provide for additional operation and maintenance needs for small, agricultural ports along the Mississippi River.

-Authority for ports to get limited reimbursement for maintenance they perform using their own equipment on federal navigation channels. This will help clear the bureaucratic log jam in routine maintenance and operation of Louisiana waterways.

-Provisions that increase the beneficial use of dredged material, which is critically important for the restoration of our coast – including the placement of dredged material in a location other than the least cost alternative.

-Provisions that allow local flood protection authorities to increase the level of protection after a disaster and rehabilitate existing levees to provide the authorized level of protection and meet the National Flood Insurance Program requirements.

-Provisions that allow locals to get credit for money they spend for operations and maintenance of multipurpose protection structures and work they’ve already completed on coastal restoration projects.

-Studies to look at improvements to the Mississippi River, flood protection and ecosystem restoration for St. Tammany Parish.

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And, as Chairman of the Senate’s Subcommittee on Infrastructure and in light of the recent devastating flooding in South Louisiana, I recently added language to this bill that:

Expedites construction of the Comite River Diversion and additional flood protection measures along the Amite River and Tributaries project in East Baton Rouge.

The Comite River project was first authorized by Congress in 1992 and is one I have been pushing to move forward for several years. Had this project been completed, it could have helped reduce the flooding we have recently seen in Baton Rouge. Constructing the remaining phases of the Comite River Diversion project must be our top priority, which means getting it shovel-ready and encouraging state and local officials to acquire the necessary footprint and mitigation lands.

To better protect our communities in Louisiana from disastrous floodwaters, we must be proactive and aggressive. It’s going to take a team effort – the Corps, Congress, state and local entities – to ensure that these flood protection projects get constructed. But if we remain proactive and aggressive, I’m confident we’ll get them done.

The recent flood devastation in Louisiana makes passing WRDA incredibly timely. You can rest assured I’ll continue pushing for real flood protection. •