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HAHNVILLE – During a joint press conference with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Governor John Bel Edwards announced his proposal to allocate $150 million of State surplus funding toward coastal restoration and protection projects including the LaBranche Shoreline Protection program and the Montz Pump Station project in St. Charles Parish.

“I am glad to see that the governor’s proposal includes two substantial projects in St. Charles Parish and will be encouraging our state legislators to support this proposal,” stated President Matthew Jewell.

The proposal, which includes 15 coastal projects across 13 parishes, must now be approved by the legislature before the projects can be fully funded. This additional funding will allow St. Charles Parish to redirect funding to additional projects throughout the parish.

The LaBranche Shoreline Protection project is a rock breakwater project designed to protect 12,000 linear feet of Lake Pontchartrain’s southern shoreline in St. Charles Parish. This project was initiated in 2015 and is now shovel-ready, pending the proper permitting.

The Montz Pump Station is a direct result of the East Bank Master Drainage Plan. The 267 CFS pump station will redirect drainage flow into the spillway, where the water will free flow to Lake Pontchartrain. The project is in the design phase and is slated to begin in early 2023.