Money & Career
Just Imagine SWLA
Coastal Flood Risk Reduction photography by Lindsey Janies The Coastal Flood Risk Reduction catalytic project as identified through public input for Just Imagine SWLA has 92% support from residents as being a priority for the future of Southwest Louisiana. As underscored by land loss from hurricanes, it is imperative to take measures to preserve the coastline which protects not only Cameron Parish but also Calcasieu Parish, in addition to parishes farther north, from damaging impacts caused by storm surge and loss of land resulting from it. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, between 1932 and 2016, Louisiana’s coastal parishes lost more than 2,000 square miles of land. Collectively, this is an area larger than the state of Delaware. When a major hurricane hits, a football field of land can be lost in minutes. The Just Imagine SWLA team is working alongside the Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority (CPRA) in finding viable solutions to this critical issue. Laurie Cormier, Board Member for the CPRA, explains that the eastern part of coastal Louisiana is a delta with the southwestern side being a chenier plain, one of only three in the world. This was formed by the back flow of the Mississippi River over time, creating wetlands and estuaries for wildlife. She emphasizes that protecting land in Cameron Parish is equally critical for the future of Calcasieu Parish. 44
Thrive Magazine for Better Living • March 2023
“Protection of the chenier plain and coastal Louisiana is direly needed to protect the citizens of Calcasieu Parish and the wetlands of the chenier plain because when you protect the wetlands, you lower the storm surge from hurricanes resulting in less damage falling on the citizens of Calcasieu Parish. Protecting and restoring the chenier plain is simply the most important work many of us may do in our lifetime,” said Cormier. Cameron Parish has tremendous economic value for the entire world with the rich natural resources available in this area. Southwest Louisiana as a whole is described as the tip of the spear when it comes to coastal land loss, protection and restoration as well as the global export of liquified natural gas, according to Clair Marceaux, a Cameron Parish native and a Just Imagine SWLA champion for Coastal Flood Risk Reduction. “Cameron Parish now exports more natural gas than Australia and Quatar, helping to make the United States the largest exporter of LNG in the world. These projects have injected an estimated $50 billion dollars into our economy with more than $40 billion additional under development. We are also home to one of the two Strategic Petroleum Reserves in the US. In addition, Cameron Parish is now home to the once endangered Whooping Crane, 669,000 acres of vitally important wetlands and a commercial fishing industry that helps to feed
our nation, not to mention three federal and one state wildlife refuge,” said Marceaux. Multiple lines of defense in the forms of rocks, berms, levees and other protective measures are critical as is securing funding of these projects to mitigate loss of land. “Gulf shoreline protection is our first opportunity to reduce erosion, protect existing land, grow new land, and enhance fisheries habitat in areas that were previously open water. Fortifying the coastline provides mother nature and our stakeholders with a chance to make more improvements further inland. Further structural protection in the form of berms or levees provide a reduction in the power of a storm. Collaboration amongst our locals is the key to developing these projects and receiving the necessary state and federal dollars for construction,” said Louisiana State Representative Ryan Bourriaque. To view the Coastal Risk Reduction portion of masterplan for Just Imagine SWLA, go to www.justimagineswla.com.