New Orleans, La. ” Coastal Louisiana communities and residents need substantial help to manage risks from flooding but many solutions are available that could be implemented, according to a new report -View from the Coast- by the Center for Planning Excellence.Members of the report’s Coastal Resilience Advocacy Group emphasized the following findings of the report:”While we have made some progress in restoring our natural coastal buffer, this new report shows that’nonstructural’ programs lag behind, with the result that we are not fully utilizing the multiple lines of defense necessary for protecting coastal residents,” said Dr. John Lopez, Coastal Sustainability Program Director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. “We need to dedicate more funding to programs that help coastal residents reduce their flood risk right away, like elevating homes and flood-proofing.” “The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is showing real leadership in educating the public about flood risk,” said Corey Miller, Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. “A great example is the recent community meetings unveiling CPRA’s new ” Flood Risk and Resilience Viewer’ which visualizes how flood risks vary as Louisiana’s coast changes over time. CPEX’sView from the Coastreport lays out several recommendations to address and reduce those flood risks, and we hope CPRA continues to lead in that direction.” “Louisiana and the nation are investing in restoring our coast after decades of damage and mismanagement,” said Cynthia Sarthou, Executive Director of the Gulf Restoration Network. “But we must also do more to help the coastal residents who will not get storm protection from those projects any time soon. Many hurricane seasons will come and go before some of those coastal restoration projects actually protect us. We hope to see a greater commitment from the Governor, legislature and CPRA to nonstructural programs in the 2017 Master Plan and in future annual plans than we have seen to date.” ###As the public’s independent voice,Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation(LPBF) is dedicated to restoring and preserving the water quality, coast, and habitats of the entire Pontchartrain Basin.Founded in 1988, TheCoalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana(CRCL) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to drive bold, science-based action to rebuild coastal Louisiana through outreach, restoration and advocacy.Gulf Restoration Network(GRN) is a 20-year-old non-profit dedicated to uniting and empowering people to protect and restore the health of the Gulf of Mexico.
