Completing needed Louisiana coastal restoration projects requires coordination and commitment among all agencies, COPRI committee chair Dominic Izzo told members of the Coastal Restoration and Hurricane Protection Council appointed by Governor-elect Bobby Jindal, during its meeting on Dec. 3.
Izzo told the Council that the problems facing the Louisiana coastline developed during the past century and will not be solved quickly. What is needed, he said, is an approach to coastal restoration that integrates the requirements of hurricane protection and navigation while restoring the natural hydrogeomorphic processes that originally built and maintained the coast. Izzo said he hopes that Council members will take away from the hearing a sense that the state of Louisiana must act now and begin the restoration process.
In his invited testimony before the Council, Izzo emphasized the need to develop and act on a set of common assumptions to initiate needed projects. He told council members that projects must be integrated solutions that address coastal restoration, flood protection and navigation in a basin-wide or watershed context, ensuring that projects large and small contribute to the sustainability of Coastal Louisiana.
“Assumptions, especially assumptions of common goals, are absolutely critical to bringing disparate groups together,” Izzo told the 35-member council, which is chaired by Rep. Loulan Pitre ( R-Cut Off) and Vice-Chair Carlton Dufrechou of the Ponchartrain Basin Foundation. “Agreement on the starting assumptions can streamline the project development process tremendously and allow decisions to be made quickly.”
In responding to queries about the best ways to reduce the time and expense of the project development process, Izzo offered the following suggestions: create a bias for action, explore permits and authorizations for common projects, combine projects, investigate design-build projects and forge collaborative projects with government agencies, especially the Corps of Engineers. It won’t be possible to recreate and maintain the historical coastline from a specific point in time because the coastline is dynamic, Izzo told the council members who represent a variety of regions throughout the state and were invited to participate based on their individual expertise.
"We simply cannot afford to have competition between stovepipe agencies, or between different levels of government, delaying critical projects,” he said. “If we all agree on our starting assumptions, then we should be able to reach a consensus on needed projects. This does not mean that we ignore NEPA (The National Environmental Policy Act) considerations or local concerns. It does mean that no one should have veto authority on a project solely by virtue of bureaucratic delay.”
Izzo’s tips for moving projects forward included time-saving measures such as: not conducting separate environmental impact studies for every barrier island project when the need for restoration of the islands is accepted; combining projects to minimize the time and expense of project management and bidding; attracting high-quality bidders and engaging companies that can handle the challenges of coastal restoration; and encouraging the Governor to work with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, the Assistant Administrator of the EPA for Water and the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality to resolve the more difficult issues in an expedited review process.
Working with the Mississippi River Commission is another possible way to speed the process of restoration, according to Izzo.
“Since any long-term solution to coastal restoration, navigation, and flood protection in coastal Louisiana will affect the river dramatically it seems that the Mississippi River Commission offers a potential solution.”
Overall, Izzo said, he thinks the hearings will help Governor-elect Jindal form a consensus on how to proceed with restoration and hurricane protection in Louisiana.
"The Council seems to be a representative assembly of Louisiana citizens concerned with coastal issues,” Izzo said. “The group includes politicians, environmentalists, local Community activists and engineers, among others. They listened attentively to all speakers but also submitted their own comments and asked questions. The general atmosphere was ‘action oriented.’ Most of the Council have been active in coastal restoration for years and they want to see progress instead of more studies. That theme was reiterated over and over again.”
Council member Bob Tannen, a consultant for DMJM Harris and The Rand Corporation, said he believes the testimonies and resulting comments from the Council’s two, three-hour hearings will be collected and prepared for Governor-Elect Jindal. Adaptive management was one of the keys, Tannen said, to be able to recognize that there will have to be changes to things as efforts proceed.
Efficiency and a new process of continued evaluation are important for coastal restoration, Tannen said. He noted that Izzo, a former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, recommended combining barrier island projects and doing one study since such projects have similar features. Tannen said the hearing emphasized finding common features when looking at diversion projects or beneficial use of sediments.
"I think his focus was on implementing with the knowledge we’ve gained already and improving the efficiency of the project development process,” Tannen said. “I’m optimistic that we will improve.”
Tannen added that there is a need for ongoing review of the restoration process and an immediate need to involve the energy and technology industries in the process as well as other heavy industries, such as offshore platform builders, in the Louisiana coastal region. He said this need also was emphasized by Sherwood Gagliano of Baton Rouge, a geologist, civil engineer and CEO of Coastal Environments Inc.
"I think there should be an ongoing effort to provide feedback,” he said. “ASCE and others should be part of supporting the process intellectually, technically and in other ways.”
Another recommended change, Tannen said, is to view the partnership efforts as a three-legged stool involving not just the state and the Corps but also bringing to the forefront energy, heavy industry and technology companies.
"To have them as a full-fledged partner in moving forward would be very important,” Tannen said.
Dominic Izzo heads COPRI's Wetlands and Sediment Management Committee. For more information, he can be reached at dizzo@exponent.com.
