NEW ORLEANS — Nearly $25 million in environmental grants will be given out to three projects aimed at protecting and redeveloping marshes along Louisiana's coast, Sen. Bill Cassidy's office said.
The grants, provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Restoration Authority of Louisiana, are projected to create or bolster 1,309 acres of marshland. About $24.8 million is being given to the three projects.
“It is vital that we protect local communities and industries along our coast,” said Cassidy, one of Louisiana's U.S. senators, in a statement. “Securing funding like this is essential to restore our dissolving coastline."
The first grant, $19,034,024, will go toward the Bayou Decade Ridge and Marsh Creation, Phase 2 project in Terrebonne Parish. The project's goals are to restore 11,131 linear feet of ridge habitat along the northern bank of Bayou De Cade and create 390 acres and nourish approximately 90 acres of intermediate marsh.
Another grant worth $2,986,339 will go toward the Breton Landbridge Marsh Creation (West), Phase I project. That project, in St. Bernard Parish, is aiming to restore 423 acres of marshes and bank lines along the south side of Grand Lake, which would create 326 acres and nourish 97 acres.
The last initiative, the East Delacroix Marsh Creation and Terracing, Phase I project, will recieve $2,810,962. This project is also aimed at marshland in St. Bernard Parish. The project's plan is to create and nourish approximately 406 acres of marsh and construct approximately 12,950 linear feet of terrace (about 8 acres) utilizing a layout to help protect the community of Delacroix.
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