CPRA

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Due to the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, in December 2005, the Louisiana Legislature restructured the State's Wetland Conservation and Restoration Authority to form the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). Act 8 of the First Extraordinary Session of 2005 expanded the membership, duties and responsibilities of the CPRA and charged the new Authority to develop and implement a comprehensive coastal protection plan, including both the Master Plan (revised every 5 years) and annual plans.

Prior to the hurricanes, safeguarding Louisiana's coast meant separate planning for hurricane protection and coastal restoration. Act 8 directed that the CPRA consider both "hurricane protection and the protection, conservation, restoration and enhancement of coastal wetlands and barrier shorelines or reefs" and further defined the "coastal area" as the Louisiana Coastal Zone and contiguous areas that are subject to storm or tidal surge. In time for submission to the May 2006 Legislative Session, the CPRA completed its first assigned task - the first annual coastal protection plan for the state that integrates both hurricane protection and coastal restoration projects.

Our Mission

The CPRA is now established as the single state entity with authority to articulate a clear statement of priorities and to focus development and implementation efforts to achieve comprehensive coastal protection for Louisiana. The CPRA is working closely with other entities on coastal issues, including the state legislature; the Governor's Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation; the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA); and the LRA's Louisiana Speaks regional planning process.

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority's mandate is to develop, implement and enforce a comprehensive coastal protection and restoration Master Plan. For the first time in Louisiana's history, this single state authority will integrate coastal restoration and hurricane protection by marshalling the expertise and resources of the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Transportation and Development and other state agencies, to speak with one clear voice for the future of Louisiana's coast. Working with federal, state and local political subdivisions, including levee districts, the CPRA will work to establish a safe and sustainable coast that will protect our communities, the nation's critical energy infrastructure and our bountiful natural resources for generations to come.

The Urgency to Protect and Restore

The need for this concerted effort involving multiple state and federal agencies as well as local levee boards, parish officials, private industries and concerned citizens from across the world is apparent now more than ever. Coastal Louisiana is losing land at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world. Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost more than 1.2 million acres of coastal wetlands and is still losing as much as 25 square miles a year. During a one-month stretch in the late summer of 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita washed away more than 200 square miles of precious coastal wetlands. It is the goal of the CPRA to ensure that Louisiana's coastal wetlands are guarded and restored while providing increased levels of protection for communities and critical economic infrastructure as well as sustaining the unique heritage and culture of those who live in the coastal area.

CPRA Members and Staff

The Governor's executive assistant for coastal activities chairs the CPRA. Agencies in the CPRA include the following: the secretaries of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR); the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD); the Department of Environmental Quality; the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries; the Department of Economic Development; the commissioners of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry; the Department of Insurance; and the Division of Administration; the director of the State Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness; and the chair of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration, and Conservation. Additionally, the CPRA membership includes two executive board members of the Police Jury Association and three levee district presidents from coastal Louisiana.

As charged by Act 8, the CPRA established an Integrated Planning Team (IPT) to jointly coordinate development of the master plan with state and federal agencies, as well as political subdivisions (including levee districts). The IPT consists of senior staff from DNR and DOTD. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, has also assigned a senior staff person to the team as a liason.

Utilizing extensive, existing work as well as input from a wide variety of stakeholders, the IPT formulated an overall master plan and annual plan that clearly portray the state's needs and desires relative to a sustainable vision of comprehensive coastal protection integrating hurricane protection and coastal restoration. The Master Plan addresses these coastal protection efforts from both short-term and long-range perspectives. It also incorporates structural, management, and institutional components of both efforts. A preliminary draft of the Master Plan was made publicly available in late November 2006 for public review and comment. The final Master Plan was completed before submission to the State Legislature for approval on April 30, 2007. A Master Plan for 2012 is currently being drafted and edited for submission.

Click here for a list of CPRA members

Staff and support are provided by the Louisiana Governor's Office of Coastal Activities. Legal Counsel is assigned by the Louisiana Attorney General's Office.