As part of last week’s Louisiana Watershed Initiative’s Council of Watershed Management meeting, the state announced projects receiving a total of $61.6 million in awards through the Watershed Projects Grant Program: Local and Regional – Round 1.
Projects awarded are highest scoring projects, implementation-ready, low-risk and do not negatively affect flood risk or the natural and beneficial function of the floodplain either upstream or downstream.
Northwest Louisiana received funding for one project through this competitive $60 million award. The funded project is the Ockley Basin Storage Project that was submitted by the city of Shreveport. The project description on LWI’s website is “Clearing, grading and earthwork to construct flood storage areas at Mansfield Road and Texas Avenue, Forest Park and Avery Street and Lawhon Street.”
As part of the Louisiana Watershed Initiative’s first round of funding for local and regional projects, the state is awarding $5.36 million to the Ockley Basin flood storage project in Watershed Region 1, which includes most of northwest Louisiana. This project will help reduce flood risk in Region 1 by constructing flood storage areas along Ockley Basin in Shreveport.
“This multimillion-dollar project will bring long-awaited relief to an area that has experienced recurring flooding in recent years,” Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins said. “The project has been a top priority for our Shreveport community for years and is ready to be constructed. Through the Louisiana Watershed Initiative, this funding allows us to immediately move this project forward to help make our community more resilient in the face of future flooding.”
In total, the state announced $60 million in statewide projects today through the Watershed Projects Grant Program: Local and Regional – Round 1, which is part of the state’s action plan to spend $1.2 billion in federal mitigation funds. The goal is to fund low-risk, high-impact projects that can immediately reduce regional flood risk and improve the natural functions of floodplains without adversely impacting surrounding communities.
Participating state agencies of the LWI Council on Watershed Management scored and awarded projects through a competitive process based on publicly shared and reviewed evaluation and scoring criteria and program policies and procedures.
Round 1 projects that were not awarded funding this week will move on to the regional selection process. As part of this process, each region may select up to $5 million in projects to recommend for funding this summer.
LWI’s goal is to reduce statewide flood risk through a coordinated, regional, watershed-based approach. The state has designated eight provisional watershed regions to facilitate collaboration, coordinate watershed management among parishes and align project funding with regional flood risk priorities.
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE June 4 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB- THE INQUISITOR.