Over the past couple of years, we’ve (Imagine Water Works + Propeller) delivered more than 20 issues of Watermark: a briefing on water programs, policies, and funding in Louisiana. As partners, we combined our resources and networks to spread the news to as many people as possible — and we’ve gotten great feedback from you all! In that time, our work also transitioned, leading us to transition the Watermark briefing, too.
What’s that mean for you?
Moving forward, Watermark will be delivered to your inbox directly from Imagine Water Works.
What’s that mean for us?
At Propeller, we know you’re in good hands. We’ve partnered with Imagine Water Works since 2012 when they worked with us as a Water Challenge Coordinator. Since then, they’ve served as a Propeller Water Consultant and co-created the Joy of Water, a Business Survival Handbook, the New Orleans Building Hardening Guide, and more. (These resources are all free and available on their website.)
At Imagine Water Works, we’re excited to continue delivering you the most pressing water news both locally and globally — and we’ll be adding more art, climate, and environmental justice news to the mix, too. Thank you, Propeller, for your partnership over the years!
Best Wishes,
Imagine Water Works + Propeller
In The News
State Posts Draft Action Plan for Spending $1.2 Billion in Flood Mitigation Funds
On Sept. 25, the Council on Watershed Management unanimously approved the online posting of the state’s draft Action Plan for spending $1.2 billion in Community Development Block Grant Mitigation funds. The proposed plan, which describes the state’s approach to funding projects, data collection, modeling and policy measures, aims to align with the Louisiana Watershed Initiative‘s long-term resilience objectives. The 45-day formal public comment period for the proposed plan continues until 5pm on Friday, Nov. 29. All comments and the state’s responses will be submitted to HUD for approval.
The state is accepting comments online or via email, mail or fax. Public hearings were also held throughout October and can be watched on the Louisiana Watershed Initiative’s Facebook page.
CPRA Soliciting New Project Ideas for Development of the 2023 Coastal Master Plan
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is accepting project ideas that Louisiana citizens, governmental bodies, and concerned organizations would like to see considered for possible inclusion in the next Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast that will be submitted to the Louisiana Legislature in 2023.
Predictions in the 2017 Coastal Master Plan have reinforced the need for the master plan process to focus on investments with beneficial effects at the sub-basin to regional scale. CPRA will accept proposals for new projects to be included in the 2023 Coastal Master Plan that meet this challenge.
New projects can be proposed by any source, including academia, parishes, elected officials, agencies, NGOs, landowners, business/industry, and the general public. Emphasis should be on projects that continue to provide benefit in the face of sea level rise and subsidence without continued maintenance, those that make a contribution to maintaining estuarine gradients, and those that provide storm surge-based risk reduction. See the New Project Development Program Guidelines and Criteria here.
All proposals must be received by February 14, 2020.
More Water Headlines
- SNAP Recipients May Apply for Replacement Benefits for Flood Loss due to T.S. Olga: Recipients must apply before deadline (Nov 7)
- Wealthy counties get many FEMA buyouts of flood-prone homes
- Fontainebleau State Park: We Need Wilderness Now More Than Ever
- Shrinking the Gulf Coast dead zone part 2: Upriver
- How A Proposal To Reduce Flood Risk In Ellicott City Nearly Destroyed The Community
- New Orleans to waive permit fees for some recently flooded buildings
- Residents of a 12,000-year-old Turkish city are moving the bones of their dead relatives before the city disappears underwater
- Weathering the Storm: Two Years After Maria, Relief Funds Promise Displacement for the Hardest-Hit Puerto Ricans
- How to Survive a Flooded World: We talked to Obama’s top FEMA official on the future of flooding and what humanity can do to prepare
- The Rising Tidewater: Disparate but urgent efforts to address sea-level rise in the Virginia tidewater, one of the country’s most important strategic centers, are striving to keep up with visible realities
- Floodwaters Diverted from New Orleans Killed Off Marine Life
- The rising Mississippi River is raising industrial sector worries
- First inaugural symposium brings together scientists and artists to address climate change
Water Funding & Finance
- Resource: New brief released by The Data Center states that the response to coastal challenges hinges on the fate of key industries like oil and gas, the possibility of further losses of middle-earning occupations, and the availability of jobs in vulnerable coastal areas. Read and download: “Reworking the working coast: Economic change and the geography of opportunity in Southeast Louisiana”
- On diversions and the economy: A new study of the economic effects of building the state’s proposed $700 million Mid-Breton and $1.15 billion Mid-Barataria sediment diversions in Plaquemines Parish concludes they could add $3.1 billion, 4,000 jobs to local economy
- In Congress: Under current federal law, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama get about 37.5% of the money made from drilling off their coastlines. But states that have energy production sites on federal land get a 50% share: Louisiana coastal advocates press Congress for a bigger cut of offshore energy revenues
- Gov. John Bel Edwards signs agreement allocating a total of $41.7 million to Lafourche Parish levee districts for storm protection projects
Water Events
- The American Dream Denied: The New Orleans Residents of Gordon Plaza Seek Relocation + LaToya Ruby Frazier: Flint is Family | “The American Dream Denied” aims to raise awareness of environmental issues and fully fund relocation for Gordon Plaza residents. “Flint is Family” examines the Flint, Michigan water crisis. | Now through December 14 | Newcomb Art Museum at Tulane University | More information
- Water Fall Fest 2019: A Climate Solutions Festival | November 23, 10:30am – 3:30pm | Keller Library, 4300 S. Broad Street | RSVP
- Pumpkin SMASH: Smash It Don’t Trash It | Over a billion pounds of pumpkins are sent to the landfill each year after Halloween. This year, donate your used pumpkins for food or composting. | November 2, 11am – 1pm | Keller Library, 4300 S. Broad Street | More information
- FORESTival Featuring Lost Bayou Ramblers | A Celebration of Art and Nature | November 16, 10am – 5pm | A Studio In The Woods, 13401 Patterson Road | More information
WaterMark is a monthly briefing on water programs and policies in Louisiana, brought to you by Imagine Water Works.