Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority had its monthly meeting on Wednesday. Officials discussed BP oil spill money, sediment diversions, sea level rise, and beach and dune restoration.
Laurie Cormier is the Coastal Zone manager in Southwestern Louisiana’s Calcasieu Parish. Cormier also sits on the CPRA. She says the focus in her region is the creation of breakwaters, which help protect against storm surge.
“What we know in Calcasieu is that projects that work in the eastern part of the state don't necessarily work the same on the western side of the state," Cormier said. "So we're having to try and regroup. And what we’ve found is the breakwaters work.”
The CPRA is currently funding a $40 million shore protection project just below Calcasieu, in Cameron Parish.
One presenter at the CPRA meeting encouraged coastal citizens to think about their proximity to coastal erosion not in terms of distance, but how high above sea level they are. Cormier says that’s particularly useful advice to her constituents, who don’t live directly on the coast, but are impacted by coastal erosion.
The next CPRA meeting is July 16 in Plaquemines Parish.
